The Heirs to a Spider's Web
by Arysthae
Summary: Light Yagami was a bright little child, solving cases for his father from a young age and maintaining A grades in both of his schools. One day, he solves a case he wasn't supposed to; one of L's cases. When L and Watari catch on to his identity, they petition to send him to Wammy's house, with hilarious consequences. Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**The Heirs to a Spider's Web.**

**AN: So I recently discovered my obsession for Death Note. In particular, Light Yagami. He's one of the more complex and fascinating characters. I love his complex relationships with everyone and his attitude and the realism that the creators bring to the entire tale, including the side characters being just as interesting as the main characters. **

**I loved Light being the bad guy and his complex relationship with Ryuk (oh, the plot bunnies), but I did wonder, that if Light were as clever as he claims to be, why didn't L find him beforehand? When Light was a kid? A snotty, spoilt, ridiculously clever kid at that? So I decided to write an 'Light without a Death Note' story. Light's not just clever now, but a snarky genius. **

**This could stay a one-shot or could expand into a larger story. Depends on my interest, and my time. **

Light frowned as he read the scholarship letter to this school once more, his ten-year-old face screwed up into an intense look of concentration as he retranslated the English for the fifth time, still hoping the text would twist and morph into something that made more sense.

_You are cordially invited to be part of special academy, Wammy's Orphanage for gifted children. _

The letter blathered on a bit more about his special circumstances, not being an orphan and all of that, but they wanted him to use his skill productively and this academy would provide that, blah, blah, blah. It washed over him like Sayu's natter about her classmates.

What worried Light the most was why it was happening now, of all times. This letter had been posted this morning, directly after Light had received his test results for the MENSA IQ test and the practical test for the gifted children's exam. Someone had been able to get his test results before him.

Light frowned, this was all far too coincidental to be true, and while his mother might have passed it off as providence or luck, Light believed in neither. So it must have all been directly linked to his actions.

When had Light done something extraordinary? He'd gotten 100% on all his final elementary tests, but that was hardly out of the ordinary. He never got scores less than 90% on any test, but that didn't prompt a test of genius. After all, it could easily been explained off as a great studier or even an eidetic memory. Light had both of course, so those weren't entirely unfounded, but defining someone as a genius took a lot of deliberation, usually.

So it was something else. Not his tennis wins, surely. After all, those would hardly result in a test of his education. Rather, he would have been contacted by some sports company or training school. No, definitely not his tennis wins. So what else had he done?

Light growled and hit his table angrily. Why couldn't he think properly this morning? His father's deductive abilities were never clouded by the morni- Of course. He'd solved one of his father's cases two weeks ago. It made perfect sense. Someone had noticed that he'd solved his father's case.

Light remembered the details of the case perfectly, it was hard not to. It had been far more interesting than the cases of the 'missing silver hairclip' and 'the disappearing cat' that his classmates had given him. A man had been murdered in Kanto with prints on his body that was dated just before his death, of a woman., his wife, who'd had an alibi on the other side of the country.

Though the police had been stumped, Light had thought it obvious. Like the immortalized Sherlock Holmes had once said, 'when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, _however improbable_, must be the truth.' What they had been unable to see by was her alibi. Remove the alibi and it was obvious that the woman had done it.

Of course, no police officer with any self respect would have let him actually go and see the crime scene (Light was sure that if he had asked anybody that hadn't been the new bloke in the police force, Matsuda, that he would have been in serious trouble), so Light had resorted to hacking his father's computer to get to the police database. It had taken four hours, three packets of apples, several sketchy websites, a lot of screaming and a pair of watery, red eyes at the end of it, but Light had managed to break into the police database, un-noticed by the police in any case. Sayu had accused him of being completely insane and his mother had been hard-pressed to understand why Light-kun was working so hard.

From there, and the astute descriptions of the bodies by the analyzers at the morgue, Light had been able to easily deduce that the woman had actually killed the man with chemical poisoning and hadn't been all too subtle about it either. Of course, Light still needed to destroy her alibi. So he deliberately had let his Father catch him stealing things from his bag to do with the case and quickly made up a bunch of deductions to pretend that he hadn't actually hacked into the Police Database.

His Father had been so shocked, Light had managed to wheedle him into taking the provider of the alibi into custody and letting Light be there when the man was interrogated. It had been child's play to manipulate his Father into asking his questions for him, revealing that the woman's alibi had been her lover and that she had murdered her husband so that he could safely marry her lover.

Of course, while his Father might have been dim enough to accept that he'd created those questions by himself; Light realized that there were several witnesses to the coaxing of his father. Any one of them could have had the authority to get him tested and send him to this school. But that couldn't be right. What reason did they have for doing that? Being the astute son of the Police Chief, Light had known from a young age that people didn't help another without an ulterior motive in mind. Sayu had been protected, of course, but Light had been too clever for his own good.

He'd read every book he could get a hand on and had retained all of the information in his head, gaining easy access to it; it took him less than a minute to pull up any information that he had ever read or known. The examiners had been shocked by his tests results, congratulating the fact that he tested in with the mind of an adult and the mental maturity as well. Light had been proud of that, but why would someone push for him to get better education?

To make sure that he would help out in more detective investigations? No, that didn't make sense, everyone in the police department knew Light's only ambition was to follow his father into the Law-Enforcement field. His father had only boasted about Light 101 times. So it was something else. Something better. Was there even something better than the Police Force?

Light wracked his brain. A minute passed and nothing had crept up to his mind. He couldn't think of anything, but that didn't necessarily mean that it didn't exist….Of course. His father would know. Time to actually talk to his family.

(X)

"Dad, guess what I got in the post this morning!" Light said, pitching his voice a shade higher and brighter, to sound less like his true self.

"Huh?" his father said, looking up from his morning coffee.

"A scholarship letter to some strange academy place!" said Light, sounding as chirpy as he could, emulating Sayu in his actions.

"What?" asked his mother, looking very happy. "Why didn't you tell us?" she said, flinging her arms around him, getting flour on Light's blue shirt.

Light felt bemused and patted her awkwardly on the back. Usually, his mother let go after five seconds of hug. "I only just got it Mum! Obviously, I came to you first!" _Obviously_.

His mother took the letter from Light's hand as she let go of him and started scanning the letter. He knew that she'd be over the moon, but he needed to ask Dad something. "Hey Dad. I've been thinking. Is there a higher power than the police?" Light asked, as he pulled out a chair to the table.

His father frowned. 'This is unexpected, Light." He said, adjusting his glasses.

"Please Dad," said Light, "I need to know. It's very important in my decision to actually go to this school or not."

His father sighed and removed his glasses, pinching his brow. Light leant forward, placing a curiously naïve expression upon his face. "Okay Light, since you've signed the secrecy act, I'll tell you. There's a detective whom the Police call when they can't solve an investigation. He hasn't a face, or a name to his actions. He's known simply as L. He never solves his cases from the actual scene, he hides behind a proxy, called Watari, his face is unknown as well. Usually, L speaks through a laptop with a distorted voice."

Light had to suppress a grin, he was right! He'd known it! There had to have been someone better than the police. But he hadn't got all the proof he needed yet. "Is he the only consulting detective?" Light asked, leaning forward, not having to fake the curiousity.

"No." said his father and Light's face fell. This was bad. It could be anybody who was doing this, then. "But," his father started and Light tilted his head sideways, 'The others, like Eraldo Coil and Deneuve never get involved unless you discuss money. L works for free, on interesting cases." said Soichiro Yagami, looking vaguely disgusted. 'There are some days I wonder what he will do when the cases don't interest him anymore."

Light smirked. "Tell me Dad," he asked, smoothening his perfectly combed hair a little further, "Was L contacted for the murder case that I solved?"

His father looked surprised. "Yes, he was. However did you know?"

Light smiled and leant back in his chair. "I didn't know until you told me. But you've confirmed my suspicions. L must have been interested when the case he was supposed to solve was resolved before he even got his claws into it. So, he must have investigated me and realized that I was clever. That explains the tests, merely a demonstration of my capabilities. Now, some strange offer for a school that can't be found online comes in the post. It can herald only two things. One, he's jealous of my capabilities, that come for no cost to the police, and wants to eliminate me in private to retain his status as the best."

Light was interrupted by his Mother dropping a plate in the kitchen and his father looking horrified. "Light!" his Father scolded, looking angry. "Don't ever say that again!"

Light nodded meekly on the outside but rolled his eyes from underneath his cloud of hair. Really, it wasn't like he'd announced that he was going to let himself die. It had just been a deduction. "The second option is, of course, that he wants to train me up. Dad, what would happen to the world's police forces if L died or stopped solving cases?"

Light's father looked pensive. "There'd be chaos. The world depends on L's deductive abilities. He's taken on hundreds of cases and has never been wrong about any of them. If he disappeared, then he'd leave the world running with the worst criminals on the planet."

Light nodded, it was as he'd expected. With Eraldo Coil and Denegue charging money for their services, the police, who were restricted by budget anyway, would never be able to afford them. 'That makes sense," said Light, "If L loves Justice as much as his actions seem to implicate him to, he wouldn't want that. Everyone dies eventually, it's just that L will leave a hole in the world when he does. If he loves Justice, he'd want someone else to be step up to the position. How old is L, anyway?"

His father sighed. "No one knows. He's just a mystery to everyone. No one knows. We assume that he's an old man, his vocabulary and maturity indicate that this is the case."

But Light wasn't convinced. "Anyone can pick up a dictionary and use those words. And maturity isn't necessarily dictated by age, it's by experience. I'm more mature than that Matsuda kid at the police station."

Light's father chuckled, presumably at Light calling 16 year old Matsuda a kid, but Light ignored it, as he ignored a lot of the family's more inane actions. "Fine, I'll take your theorem as a probability. If he's an old man, then it's more likely that he'll be looking for a successor. On the other hand, if he's a younger person, he's either out to kill me or use me as an asset. Another proxy perhaps?"

Light's father shuddered, but didn't comment on Light's words this time round. "Either way," Light continued as he tapped his fingers against the table, "It's a 50-50 chance either way. I don't like those odds."

"I don't like those odds either," said Light's mother, wiping her hand on her aprons, as she pulled out a chair. "But this school seems genuine. And goodness knows, you've been bored. I know you think you're hiding it well, but you never seem interested in anything anymore and it's all so generic. I'm worried about you, Light," she said, gripping Light's hands in hers, looking him directly in the eyes, "This school'd be good for you if it actually existed."

Light sighed. "That's the problem. Apart from this letter, there seems to be no other indicator of its existence online."

His mother frowned. "They might not have a website. Not every institute is as technologically oriented as Japan's businesses and schools are."

Light nodded, "That's what I presumed at first as well, but I got no results online. Surely, someone would have heard about it, or been an alumni or know about it. Not a single match on any of the online places and no one seems to have heard of its existence at all."

His mother suddenly looked worried. "Light…"

"How long do you have to submit your answer?" asked Light's father, suddenly, as he finished his coffee.

"About a month. That should be enough time for me to do some research. Thing is, if it's not online, then I have to gain access to police records somehow." said Light. He was sure that he could easily hack into his father's database records again, but it was much easier if he could gain access to it legally.

His father looked hesitant. "I can't let you do that. You may have signed the Official Secrets Act, Light, but I can't let you onto the database. I'll do the research myself."

Light shook his head, that was the last thing his father needed. 'See, that won't work out," said Light, "You've got your duties as Chief and on top of that, a ton of research on a near unknown school? I think not. You're busy enough as it is. If you do this, you'll never be home." His mother placed a hand on Light's father's shoulder as Soichiro Yagami slumped on the table.

"Light's right, you'd burn out." said Light's mother. Light's father groaned in response.

"I have another solution. Is Matsuda allowed access to the police records?" asked Light, as he fiddled with his cuff's button.

"Yes." said his father, his voice muffled by the hardwood table.

"Then it's sorted. Matsuda can print out police records for me and give them to me and I'll read them through. That way, I'm only seeing what I need to. It's not like he's doing very much as a newbie administrator." Light said. "Anyway, Matsuda likes me." Because Light did a lot of Matsuda's work for him.

His father still looked in the depths of despair, but Light had managed to dodge a bullet there. Now, to convince Matsuda to give Light his password and login name to the police database…..

(X)

Light sighed as the doorbell rang for the second time. His mother he knew was busy with souffles and meringues for Sayu's birthday party that evening. Say what you will about him, but he did love his family, even if their minds weren't nearly as advanced as his own.

"I'll get the door Mum!" Light called and thundered down the stairs, his black shirt coming out of its tucked position.

Light opened the door, undoing the latches and raised his eyebrows as he was greeted by a tall man dressed completely in black. His face was hidden by a hat (shy, or secretive), his coat and trousers was spotless (didn't walk here then) but there was no sign of a car behind him (to not seem too posh? No, to not scare us.) The man clutched a briefcase and a worn laptop (frequently used, taken everywhe—damn.)

"Watari?" Light asked, his voice cracking slightly. The man nodded briefly.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Light asked and Watari nodded.

Light frowned. "Are you mute or something?" The man shook his head.

Light grinned. "So you aren't allowed to talk then?" The man nodded again, and Light was sure that under the hat, the man was smiling.

"Can you talk?" asked Light and the man nodded.

Light slowly nodded and frowned. "Will you tell me the truth if I ask you a question?" The man was still for a moment, then tilted his head to the side and Light suppressed swearing loudly. Dammit, he'd have to trust the man.

"Fine then, does L want to kill me?" asked Light. Might as well see what the answer was. To Light's surprise, the man shook his head fervently and Light felt curious. If the man was as good as they say, he wouldn't lie with that much vigour and alarm, so he could be telling the truth. Light frowned. He could keep double-guessing himself forever if he really tried.

Light sighed. "Fine. Now play along with what I'm saying. MUM!"

His mother came out, wiping flour down her apron and smiled at Light and the old man. "Who's this then, Light?"

Light smiled. "This is Mr. Suizahn-san, from the lawyer's who are running the case for the couple that I managed to convict. He needs me to give some evidence for the case."

The man, to Light's surprise, started talking. "Yes, I'll be stealing Light away for a bit to practice what he'll need to say in the court and whether I'll want him as a witness or not." His voice was soothing and Light saw his mother relax almost immediately.

"I see." She said, "How long will this take?"

"An hour or two? Not longer than that. I'll have to take him to my office though." The man answered again but this time, Light's mother looked worried.

"Light—"

Light placed a hand on her arm. "I'll be fine. I've got my phone anyway, I'll keep that on me. Don't worry about me, Mum. I'll be back for lunch! I wouldn't miss Sayu's birthday for the world!"

His mother smiled as Light grabbed his coat. His phone was in his trouser pocket and all of his hard evidence about the Wammy's Orphanage was upstairs, but he didn't need that just yet.

They walked out of the house and Light shoved his hands into his pockets. "So," he said, "Will I be talking to L by laptop or in person?"

Watari paused for a moment, cocking his head like he was listening to something (probably was, L seemed to be a paranoid type of person who needed to keep tabs on everything). "You will be meeting him in person." Said Watari and Light felt his eyebrows raise beside themselves.

"Well now, that's unexpected." said Light, "From the police dossier, I thought you were more paranoid than that."

Watari tilted his head to the side again and Light was now sure that L was listening to this whole conversation. "It isn't paranoia if they are really out to find you."

Light laughed but was cut off by a rolls-royce in a sleek black, draw up beside them. "After you, Yagami-san." Said Watari, and with a hint of trepidation, Light got inside the car.

(X)

Light stared as the lift pinged open as they got out. The room that he and Watari were in was dark, illuminated only by a several computer screens at the other side of the room.

"Light Yagami," said a voice from the darkness, in a grey monotone, "Straight A student at Metropolitan Private High School Daiwaga and Gamou Prep Academy and top of your class in both. Elementary Tennis Champion and helper to the National Police Agency of Japan. Birthday is on the February 28th and you are 10 years old. You hate losing and are reported by your teachers as being talented but reclusive. Though you have many friends and are very popular, concerns about your attention-span to them and to your lessons have been raised to your parents." His Japanese was impeccable, but being a native speaker, Light could tell that there was a hint of a British accent to his words.

Out of the shadows walked a young man with black hair that looked like it hadn't been touched for a year(not much care about his appearance). He wore a crumpled white t-shirt and a pair of jeans(never seen the washing machine, worn for several days by the looks of it). He was barefoot with very long toes (shoes won't fit?) and didn't look like he'd ever seen sunlight or slept at all(glued to the computer/hates sunlight). Overall, Light felt that there was no way that this was simply another proxy, because really, if you were going to create a proxy for a wise and erudite character, you'd play up to their expectations, not down. He had to be the real deal.

However, it was his blank, dull, bored expression that really annoyed Light. He'd summoned Light to come and see him and now L couldn't even be bothered to greet him with something akin to emotion? Light was now determined to crack his mask.

"Wow, not only do you look like a stalker, you talk like one too, Mr. Stalker-san! Are you a paedophile?" asked Light, playing up the innocent kid mask of his own.

He was pleased to note that L's eyes looked slightly bemused though his face still was stony. And Light could have sworn that Watari had snorted lightly.

"I am not a stalker." Said L, his voice still monotone.

"You sure act like it! Why else would you research all of that? It's just creepy. My daddy says that paedophiles deserve to be locked up!" Acting like a spoilt, sheltered child was pretty funny and the twitch at L's eyebrows was so worth it.

"I am a detective, Light." said L, "It's my job to research people."

Light laughed. "See, that's where your argument breaks. Detectives investigate criminals' background. I'm not a criminal, if anything, I'm the opposite of a criminal, so really, what you just did was creepy, strange and plain weird, Mr. Stalker-san."

Okay, he definitely had not imagined that snort coming from Watari.

"I'm not a stalker, Light." He said, and Light almost grinned evilly at the annoyance in the man's tone.

"See, if you didn't want to create that impression, you really shouldn't have created an environment like this. Dark room, only one visible door, flanked by the sidekick/bodyguard, the creepy looking guy who looks deranged advancing towards me—"

A wheezing sound came from behind him and Light broke into a grin as he saw Watari doubled over with laughter and clutching his stomach. The man's hat had fallen off revealing a shock of white hair and an old face, with pale skin, that of a westerner. "Stalker…san- dark, room…haha" were the muffled words coming from the old man's mouth in English.

L was now pouting petulantly and Light allowed himself a few chuckles. "Come on, you set yourself up for that!" Light exclaimed and L now scowled.

"If we could behave like adults?" he asked, his fingers pulling at his shirt as he slouched.

"If you could turn the lights on?" retorted Light, crossing his arms across his chest.

The light's flickered on to reveal an opulent looking room filled with more computers and TVs flickering through several scenes. Light felt his eyebrow rise. Paranoid was no longer the word for L's control-freak nature. (Not like Light could accuse L too much, he wished he could have something like this in his room)

"If you would have a seat, Light-kun." said L, his tone somewhat mocking now that Light had shattered (burnt, then stomped on) his mask of disdain. Light had to suppress the sneer that was sure to appear on his face when L started crouching on the couch. Instead, Light blinked and sat down properly with his hands in his lap.

"So," Light said as L poured out the tea into both of the cups set in front of them. "What's with the invite to a school that's only hint of existing is the letter I received and the building plans from twenty years ago?"

L didn't react as one by one he plopped several sugar cubes into his tea. Light blanched, he wondered how the man could stand that. Light almost loathed sugar with a vengeance, instead loving savoury things and anything healthy.

"Why don't you tell me your deductions, hmm?" he simply asked, his tone bored, his black eyes back to the dull state he had been in before. Light was now seriously considering that the sugar seemed to drug him into boredom, there seemed to be no other explanation for the mask to return.

Light sighed; time to shock the mask away again. "So obviously you tested me and sent me the letter because I solved that case before you could. It proved I'm clever, lah-di-dah. So there are tw-three reasons why you did this. One, you think I'm your opposition as the only other free consulting detective in the world and wanted to murder your competition with a fake invite. Two, this school actually exists and you want to train me up to be your replacement or three, you're trying to stalk me and want me as a sex-slave."

Light almost grinned as L nearly spat out his tea and pinched his brow. In a low, exasperated voice, L growled, "I am not your stalker, Light-kun. Stop this immaturity at once! I know that your mental capabilities are more than this."

Light leant back, letting his immaturity slowly siphon away. "But you just keep setting yourself up for the creep-factor. Seriously, if you wanted me to stop this, you have to learn to phrase your words better. You really aren't used to talking to people face-to-face, are you?"

L, frankly, looked pretty murderous and, say what you will about Light, but he did possess a modicum of sense. "I am trying to help you." hissed L as he started drinking the tea picking it up with only his thumb and index finger, much to Light's confusion.

"Are you really? What reason do I have to believe you are L? You haven't proved anything to me." Of course, Light knew that this was most certainly L, but he would like more proof. The more proof, the more concrete the case, right?

The detective's mask snapped back into place and Light sighed. It wouldn't be coming off. He was fed up of this. He'd just wait for the mask to break by itself. "I can't." said the detective. "You'll just have to trust me."

Light sighed. "Nothing else? No kind of proof?" he asked.

"Nothing." said the detective and Light knew that he was lying through his teeth. L must have been agitated by Light's actions and was testing whether Light actually wanted to go to this school.

"Well then," Light said, as he finished his tea, "What kind of things do you learn at this school then? I can't be expected to go to a sub-standard school. I'm always so bore in lessons."

L smiled and placed his tea-cup down as brought up the mini powerpoint presentation from one of the many laptops scattered around the room. Light settled down to read through the information, hungrily hoping, that maybe, maybe, this school/orphanage/institute wouldn't bore him to death. L hadn't been boring at all, so far, so hopefully this school would stick to that standard.

**AN: So that's the first and maybe last chapter? Not sure. I have so many plot-ideas swirling round my head, you have no idea. Light calling L a stalker is most definitely Silver Pard's idea, so that kudos goes to her amazing, amazing story Redivivus. **

**Oh yeah, and I doubt there'll be any explicit pairings in this. Light is a kid and L's an adult. Not happening. Review if you like it! Please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Heirs to a Spider's Web**

**Chapter 2**

**AN: Thanks for all the responses, though I'd love some reviews as well? *bats eyelashes!* Okay, here's chapter 2, Light's first week at Wammy's House. I was going to leave my one-shot there, but I have been plagued with ideas and they will not leave me alone, so I am compelled to draw or write. Since my drawings of the Death Note characters so far have been awful, having never drawn manga or anime before, so writing it is, despite my homework schedule. **

**By the way, am I the only one who L's theme part B from the anime sounds like the music you'd hear going down a catwalk or a fashion show? Because I felt it suited Misa far more than it did L! Though the other two of L's themes were perfection, as was Near's theme. **

**(Light's opinions are not mine. I'm merely playing on the opinions he had in canon to a greater extent.)**

Light frowned as the lady in the airport loaded his luggage into check-in. He hadn't been allowed to bring much with him to Wammy's; just clothes and notebooks. Light had been forbidden to take more than three personal possessions, so as not to upset the orphans there who barely knew their parents, which had made perfect sense to Light, so he stuck to this rule. A picture of his family, simply because that was expected from someone leaving home for a long time, his mobile phone and an engraved pen-knife from his father, just in case Light had been wrong about L attempting to kill him.

Though Light would never admit it out loud, it felt almost a relief to be leaving Japan and the days of faking being average. The city's skyscrapers seemed only to pull his ambitions down and while his family meant well, and he did truly love them, escaping their tight embrace would be like a breath of fresh air. No, losing his possessions wasn't making Light frown as the check-out lady loaded his luggage onto the assembly line. It was her promise that all of the air hosts and hostesses at British Airways would be keeping an eye on Light in First Class.

That had been the last thing that Light had needed. "I am more than capable of looking after myself, I assure you ma'am." had been Light's reply in perfect English to the brunette manning the counter.

Her only response to this was a laugh and a ruffle of his hair. "You are very sweet. But we must take care of you. We assured your uncle when he booked the ticket for your flight that we'd take every precaution with your safety and comfort.

Light gritted his teeth, creating a slightly unhinged smile; this was obviously the doing of L. Dammit, was this L's revenge for Light's name calling at their first meeting? A 9 hour flight of torture with air hostesses fawning over his every move? If it was, it was truly evil. Well played, L, well played.

(X)

To Light's surprise, he managed to survive the flight. The air hostesses had been surprisingly restrained in their fawning of him, and they had mostly ignored him through the journey. During the journey, Light had been doing heavy research on some of the Math work he had briefly glimpsed on L's many computers, using the brand new laptop that L had bought Light, with the statement that he would collapse without it.

Light had had to admit, it had been a useful present, especially since it was the newest Pentium Core processor computer that the Yagamis could only have dreamed about, on a policeman's salary. It was, sleek and efficient, which had ensured that Light would be able to research and understand many of the Limacons, Vectors, Parametric forms and other complex math values with ease, on the long flight journey. Math was one of Light's best subjects, though he was given the most credit on his language aptitude, scientific abilities and sport abilities.

Light stepped out in Heathrow airport, after going through Customs, thankfully alone. The inside of the building wasn't much different to Tokyo's airport; crowded and busy, filled with bustling people holding mobile phones, shouting screaming, walking bustling city life. Light felt almost disappointed. He'd expected the new country to completely different. All that Light could tell was different about Heathrow was that outside; it seemed to be raining with a bleak intensity.

He shook the thoughts from his head as his suitcase rolled by. Light attempted to pull the suitcase down, but it was heavier than expected and he almost fell over from the strain. A man with nearly black skin picked out Light's bag for him, to Light's gratitude.

"Thank you." Light said, injecting his voice with the warmth expected from a child, as he loaded the suitcase unto the baggage trolley.

"Next time kid," said the man in a harsh accent, though he sounded amused, "Let your parents do it, yeah?"

"They aren't here," said Light smiling easily, before pushing the trolley away from Baggage Collection. He trailed his way down a myriad of slopes and signs, following the sign that read 'Arrivals'. L had told him that a taxi would be waiting for him at Arrivals. Light had been curious as to which name he would be searching for in the sea of cards with names on. Light Yagami, or Lucifer, the codename that L had given him?

Codenames. Light had rolled his eyes at this then and did it now as he passed by a boisterous family; giving up his name was perhaps the hardest part of this whole school idea. He liked his name. Light Yagami with moon kanji representing light. Giving it up for something so associated with evil? Light didn't like it, but he hadn't had any better ideas that would have let him keep the name Light as a nickname.

He gazed at the sea of white card and instantly saw the bright red card near the back, with Light-kun in large kanji. Light almost groaned before sighing. His own fault, obviously. Either way, it made it easy to spot, so Light trundled the trolley along the middle-aged man, wearing a stereotypical english flat-cap.

The man took the trolley from him and wordlessly wheeled it out of the airport. They walked through the car-park in silence, until the man spoke up with a rough country accent. "Listen kid, I ain't your tour-guide nor your caretaker. So don't ask me too many questions or expect me ter baby you, arright?"

Light felt almost appalled by the man's lack of grammar. Even the grade school English students who had only just started spoke better than this taxi-driver did. "I assure you my good man, there will be no such bothering of your person. I am firmly independent."

The man looked a little shocked but smiled genuinely. "Most kids aren't like you. All they wanna know is 'where's my mummy' or 'do I have to go?' or 'is England really posh?'. I tell you, it drives me nuts."

Light almost smirked. Brilliant, he hadn't even needed to try to get on this man's good side. "It drives me 'insane' as well. Inane questions. Quite appalling."

"You act like a toff though?" said the man as they reached a sleek black rolls-royce.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" asked Light as the man loaded his suitcase into the boot.

"I said you act like a toff, kid." Said the man, as he slammed the boot shut with a firm slam.

"Pardon me, what does that mean?" asked Light, feeling a little confused. This was a word that he hadn't learned from any of the books.

The man looked a little confused before his mind seemed to connect. "Oh mate, I'm sorry. I forgot you were from Japan. It means you act like yer a pretty rich, posh kid."

Light frowned as he deciphered the slang. 'Posh' and 'mate' were both new words to him. Though, he could infer the meanings from the context, it was still a little strange. Light did hope that not all of the children at Wammy's spoke like this man. It would increasingly difficult for Light to seem amiable and clever if he couldn't even decipher basic slang. "I see. I apologize." said Light carefully, wondering whether that was the right thing to say.

The man roared with laughter, but it was kind laughter, not mocking, so Light surmised that that had been the right thing to say. "Ahaha, you're a laugh, kid. More amusing than the other children. You can ask whatever you like."

Light stared. If he had been a little older, he was sure that he would have taken offense to that statement. As it was, he was masquerading as a child, and decided to not react to that statement. A test of the driver's capacities first, then. "Where exactly are we headed?" asked Light as the car started up and they slid into the busy roads.

"Winchester!" said the man, looking shocked, "Did Quillsh not tell you?"

Light nodded, attempting a mock-annoyed face, wondering who Quillsh was. "He was a tad close-lipped about it all. It's good to know where in England I'll be situated. Also, how long will we take to arrive at our destination?" Light had searched up the answer on the plane, of course, but it was good to see if the driver was capable of this much.

"Ach, that's easily around two hours, depending on the traffic. M25 gets mighty congested at times." Light frowned, it was a longer time than the online map had dictated, but he had talked about traffic and replied pretty quickly…obviously a well-known route if he could take in traffic times easily. This was the driver for not only the children, but for L and Watari as well.

"Okay, that's good to know. Do you know much about the school itself?" asked Light. Now, was this man just a driver was Light had assumed, or was he more privy to the orphanage's secrets?

"'Fraid I couldn't tell you, if I tried. Just a driver and caretaker. Sorry, mate." Said the man as they turned onto the motorway. Light had been right, but it was a hollow victory. Despite L explaining the courses that Light would be taking and the codenames, nothing about the structures of the lessons had even come up and Light's attempts to ask questions or prod for information had been ignored by L, who had that right to deny Light information, of course, but it still rankled inside.

"Well then, don't worry, I'll figure it out there!" said Light, smiling and opening his laptop again. The car did not have a powerport this time, so he would have to hope that his battery would last the whole two hours. The taxi driver was devoid of any useful information. Just his luck.

(X)

He was deposited outside a beautiful looking house by the cheerful taxi driver, leaving Light , a backpack and a suitcase outside the tall, imposing red-brick building that was surrounded by beauty. As he looked around, he could see no skyscrapers, only a large church and mountains in the distance. The grass and nature everywhere was green and overflowing with life, and Light was struck by the fact that it was spring and he was in a country that didn't seem effected by pollution. It was really, quite beautiful.

Light finally summoned enough wits to realize that he hadn't knocked on the door yet. That was embarrassing. No wonder he was alone. He rapped the door twice and waited. No one seemed to be around. Light knocked again. This time, the door was opened by a girl with brown hair and wide brown eye. Her hair was tied back with a clip and there was a pencil sticking out from behind her ears. She wore dungarees and there was an eraser string around her neck like a necklace.

"Hello!" she said, "Are you new?" She sounded cheerful and it didn't take much for Light to surmise that she was an artist. The quirks were just a little too noticeable, as were the paint specks all over her denim dungarees.

"Yes, I am," Light answered, in English.

She grinned. 'That's cool! I'll take you to Roger. He'll probably explain what you need to know. My name's Linda, by the way."

"Li-Lucifer. So what do you think of L?" asked Light as they walked inside, Light dragging his large suitcase to the corner. He trusted that no one would steal it, not here. He'd know who'd done it anyway, this suitcase was heavy as lead.

She froze and looked at him her wide eyes getting wider. "First rule of Wammy's. You don't talk about L to just anyone. You're lucky that I know about L, but not everybody does."

Light frowned. "That seems rather redundant."

She shrugged. "It was their lifestyle choice. Thing is, everyone here is smart. You have to be. This is Wammy's House for talented children. But, not everyone wants to be L. When they come here, they get given a choice; they can get cool education and go on to do something pretty brilliant and never know the underside of the college or they can train for a dangerous, every possibly life-shortening job that will kill you before you've reached old age. Most people pick the first option. There are around 100-150 students here, but only around 30-40 know about L's existence and an even smaller percent have actually talked with him before." said Linda, quite clearly.

To Light's relief, her accent was clear and understandable, and she didn't use slang either. "Well then, it's good to know. L was pretty close-lipped on anything about the actual mechanics of the school."

She frowned. "You met L? That's rare."

Light nodded. "He's pretty reclusive then? Either way, he's kind of persuasive. I wasn't convinced at first, and I was even less sure when I first met, but he's surprisingly good at sales marketing. So I came here."

Linda looked surprised and fiddled with the white-coloured eraser necklace. "Wow. He talked you into coming here. That's usually Mr. Wammy's job. He must have thought you were someone special."

At that moment, Light's phone went off, going completely crazy, emitting some insanely loud J-Pop as a ringtone. There was only one person who would have changed his ringtone. Typical. "Sorry," Light said to Linda, "I have to take this call."

"Lighhhhtttttt-kuuuuuunnnnn~!" screeched his little sister. "How are you? Talk to me! We were so worried! You didn't answer your phone when mum called an hour ago!" To his surprise, all of this was in English, despite Sayu being five years old. Maybe she had inherited some of his brains, after all.

"Hey Sayu," Light said, in quick Japanese, "Sorry for not responding. It's pretty early in the morning here and we were driving through the country, so the signal might not have been clear. How are you? What time is it there?"

"It's four in the afternoon, and it's so boring without you. Why can't you come back to Japan and we can eat some ice-cream at the pool? It's so boring without you." She whined, happily agreeing to the language change.

Light almost snorted. "Weren't you the one telling me that I was a boring elder brother before and that you wished I was more fun?"

He could almost see Sayu's irritated face. "Yes, but…. It's more boring without a brother at all, even if he was a boring brother. How's England?"

"Cold and green." said Light, as he pulled at his hoodie. It was cold, even if he hadn't been registering it. Thank God his mother was pretty good with packing things, or he'd never have been prepared for the weather here. "Tell mum that I'm well, not ill and that everything went okay. A little sleep-deprived, but that's to be expected. And tell Dad to not worry. I'm not going to need to use his gift."

"What? What does 'deprived' mean?" his sister asked, sounding annoyed and Light realized, that in his happiness about being treated vaguely like an adult, he'd forgotten Sayu wouldn't understand any of his vocabulary.

"Sorry Sayu, I meant that I'm tired. I couldn't sleep properly on the flight. It was too cold. Now, I've got to go. I'm being very rude to someone, so don't forget to tell Mum and Dad that I love them okay?"

He could see in his mind that Sayu was pouting at the phone. "Fine. I'll tell them. But you'd better call me later and tell me everything! I want to talk to your new friends, okay?"

Light laughed and pressed the end call button before turning off his mobile phone altogether. He stared at Linda who looked almost wistful and she twirled the pencil between her fingers. Of course, she would have caught the word 'mum' in Sayu's first sentence. And this was an orphanage. Oh dear. Best to ignore the fact that it happened. "I'm very sorry about that. It was rather urgent. Now, who is Roger?"

Linda nodded at him. "Of course. Parents can be rather overbearing, can't they? I remember that much. And Roger is the person in charge of the orphanage. He doesn't teach, but he does loads of the administration. And discipline."

Light nodded, the more you knew. "Of course, that makes sense. Teaching on top of administration would be difficult. So who do teach us?"

Linda smiled, distantly. "You want to avoid the topic of parents with people. Understandable, especially around some of the other kids, but I don't mind. My parents died a long time ago. I'm kind of used to it by now. Just, don't tell Mello, okay? If he found out that you'd been hand-picked by L when you already had parents, you'd be on the receiving end of his wrath, and it isn't pretty. For such a skinny boy, he's very strong."

Light shrugged. "I'd prefer to not talk about them too much anyway. Slip-ups would become too common. They're not that interesting anyway. My sister is annoying, my mother loves me and my father is always busy. Typical family dynamic. And you didn't answer my question about teaching."

"I didn't answer because Roger will explain all of that." Said Linda, "And what's normal for you, isn't normal here. Here, people come from troubled backgrounds and are the cleverest children of their age. Here, school and lessons and friends and the occasional dysfunctional family dinners pass for the norm. We could use some humour."

Light laughed. "I don't think that I'm the one to provide it to you."

She looked at him, titling her head sideways, just staring before smiling. "You have an interesting face. Even if you aren't funny, you'll certainly be interesting to have around. I look forward to seeing you in lessons."

And with that she turned around to walk in the other direction, leaving Light to wonder just how odd life here was going to be.

(X)

Light sighed; really, a brochure? He had hoped for something less tacky as his introduction to the orphanage/school, and while Roger Ruvie had introduced it to him as an information pamphlet, it was a brochure, and a glossy one at that. Light hadn't thought that L would stoop that low to torture him, but clearly Light had been wrong. L hadn't wanted to kill Light. L had wanted to drive Light absolutely stark-raving, bonkers, madness-inspired, brand of insane. He didn't even know what half of those words actually referred to, but they had been used in context of being 'nuts', as it had been described on the online thesaurus.

He wandered down the corridor that was state don the map of the building to his room. Children younger than 10 years old had to share a room until they were old enough to be considered mature. Considering that Light was 10 years old, he'd been given his own room almost immediately, a fact of which for, he was very glad. The last thing Light would have needed was a room-mate.

The door was locked when Light reached it. Room 666. Another allusion to his stupid codename perhaps? What Light wanted to know is why there were 600 rooms in a building like this anyway? Then again, Light had seen the eight A4 pages of courses that he could take and had nearly died trying to not choose every single course that was available. If every course had a room ready for immediate use….yes, Light could understand why there were 600 rooms here now. But still, the pressing matter at hand here was the fact that the door was locked.

He knocked on the door next door to him. To his surprise, Linda opened it. "You again?" she asked looking surprised.

"Yes me." Light said, barely suppressing a sigh. Gods be damned, but he did find it tedious when people stated the obvious. "I need to get into my room. It's locked and I haven't got a key. Any ideas, apart from lock-picking?"

Linda smiled vaguely. "Which room?" she asked.

"666." Light stated blankly.

Linda nodded and seemed to calculating something in her mind. "Okay, then we need to go see Near. He has all of the multiples of three keys. He wanted them for something."

Light felt a little disconcerted but followed the artist down the large staircase. On the second flight down, she knocked on a blue door that, in small, meticulous letters, said 'Near'. "Near, I need the key for 666." She called when the door didn't open.

The door opened to a small boy with white hair and black eyes that looked eerily like L's. Light briefly wondered whether this was L's kid, but dismissed it. No woman would be able to put up with the detective. As his mother constantly said to her friends, women wanted stable men who could provide love and happiness as well as a home.

"That will be rather difficult Linda." said the child, his voice soft, "I'm afraid that it is buried rather deep."

"In the garden?!" she asked, looking astonished.

"No," said the child, looking bored, "In the city."

Linda looked even more shell-shocked but Light had noticed the key built structure behind Near and poked her in the side and pointed. He almost laughed as she sagged in relief. "Can't you dismantle it?" asked Linda, looking a little concerned. "666 is Lucifer's new room and he can't get in."

Near looked unperturbed. "You are welcome to try and remove it, as long as you do not bring the whole structure down." He said, letting the two of them in.

Light noticed the number 666 immediately and sighed. Near had been right, it was close to the bottom of the structure. And Light was not quite cruel enough to topple this entire creation just for his key. It was obvious that it had taken a lot of care and effort from the young boy. Linda too was crouching and frowned.

"I can't see a way to remove it, Lucifer." She said, looking annoyed, "And Near hates it when these come down before he destroys them himself."

Light grinned as an idea came to him. "Don't worry, there won't be any destruction required. I just think you'd have to give up one of your pencils for this particular endeavour."

Linda nodded solemnly and grabbed one from her dungaree pocket. Light bent down until his eye was at the same level as the key. As he'd thought, there was a slight gap there. Enough for a pencil the same width as the key to squeeze in. Without moving from his position, he held his hand out and Linda dropped the key in his hand wordlessly. That was useful; having someone around who was clever and pliant would help save his voice a little over the years.

Light slowly inserted the pencil in with one hand, and with the other pulled the key out at the same pace. He could see that this particular tower was wobbling, but to his relief, and he was sure, to Near's as well, Linda stabilized the top, pushing down a little, to maintain a bit of pressure. This was good for the whole building, Light was sure, but it made his job marginally harder. Finally, the key came out of the tremulous structure and Light held it up in triumph. Linda smirked, before letting go of the building. They waited for a few moments, but the building didn't fall. Light turned to thank the kid, but couldn't see him. A new structure of keys had managed to grow tall enough to cover all of the child, Near, but his hands, still slowly building.

Light felt his eyebrow rise. This kid was quick and confident in his abilities. He wondered whether this dexterity applied to the child' studies. "Thanks Near. I'll probably see you later."

"Mmmm. Close the door behind you when you leave," said the child, his voice quiet and soft. Light did just so and Linda and he walked back up the stairs.

"Near doesn't seem like the socializing sort," Light said, after a moment's silence.

"No, he isn't. He's smart though. Number 1 ranked out of the 40 or so students who are under obligation to become L." she said, looking bored, "Probably the least likely to turn psychotic and kill everybody when they snap."

Light looked at her oddly. "You talk as if there is someone who would do that."

Linda snorted. "Anyone here would do that if you interrupt a test or studying time, but the most notorious for it is Mello. If you even disturb Mello by breathing, you will get injured in some way."

Light frowned. He didn't like bullies, and this Mello sounded like the worst kind. "How is he still here?"

Linda laughed. "He's second in the rankings, and he's never been caught. There won't be proof either, his accomplice, Matt, is brilliant at hacking. Any CCTV mysteriously blanks out or is replaced with something else and any records of people saying things through the anonymous drop-box never reach Roger. He's interesting too, just not in the way you'd want him to be." She said, blandly.

"Hmmm." contemplated Light as they reached his room. "Thank you again. You didn't have to help me."

"I said it before, you're an interesting person. And you have an interesting face. I'll probably stick around a bit longer, if only to draw you." Light had noticed that her fingers had been twitching the whole time, probably for a pencil to draw with.

Light snorted, at least she was honest. "See you around, Linda."

"See you at Lunch." She said, with a smile, "After lunch we start lessons. I assume that you're taking the coding class?"

Light nodded. "That's right. You are too?"

"It's required for people trying to be L. You missed a couple of days of the course though, you'll be a little behind." She said, tugging at her eraser necklace.

"Don't worry about that," Light said, as he opened the door to his room, "I'm very adaptable."

(X)

Light smiled as he exited his room. Lunch was from 12-1 and everyone was required to be around for Sunday Roast, This was England after all, a main Christian country, so Sunday Roast was apparently important.

His eyebrows rose as he saw a stream of people disappearing down the stairs, an amount of people that he had most definitely not seen before. Linda was waiting for him by the staircase, a little notebook in hand, sketching something unseen.

"Hello Light." She said, without looking up. "How was your morning?"

"Good, thank you. I was unpacking, so the time went by quite quickly." Actually, Light had finished unpacking very quickly and had spent the rest of his time organizing his laptops folders for all of the many subjects he was going to need to take, along with separating several stacks of paper and making them into several notebooks.

"Good to know. Hold still, will you? Your hair is tricky to draw." She said, absently as they made their way down the stairs, her gaze still not diverted from the sketchbook in front of her.

Light had had all morning to get used to her quirks so didn't comment, but kept his head still as they walked down the stairs. "Tell me Linda," he said as she stepped out of the way of two children squealing as they sprinted down the stairs, "Why are there so many people now, in comparison to this morning?"

"Morning Church. Most of the younger kids go to church. Roger, Near and I aren't religious and there are a few more that aren't either, but mostly, everyone goes to church Sunday Morning. That's why we get the morning off Sunday, and the afternoon off Wednesday, for the field trips. Other than that, we start school at 8.30 and finish at around 8 at night, with plenty of breaks in between. But you know that.

Light nodded as they reached the lunch room. "Makes sense. My mum would be happy."

"Christian?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Technically Shinto, but I prefer Agnostiscm." said Light as they went towards the lunch queue. Linda finally tucked away her sketch book and wiped her graphite covered hands over her apron.

"Doubtful that God exists?" she asked, as she grabbed two large plates for them from the line.

"How can you be doubtful that God exists?" interjected a tall blonde boy who was in front of them. An auburn-haired boy next to him who was wearing goggles and playing a DS game tched impatiently.

"Not everyone's a God freak like you, Mello." He said, his voice dull.

"Shut up Matt." said the boy, pushing him to the side. Light felt this eyebrow rise. So this was the infamous Mello? Linda was right, he didn't look like much. With feminine blonde hair and a lithe figure clothed in a tight black shirt and jeans, he looked like a wisp of a person. But Light had seen criminals before and he could see the tension and danger hidden in Mello's stance. This was a boy to be careful around.

"Nice to finally meet you," said Light as flippantly as he could, accepting a plate from Linda. "I've a heard a bit about you since I arrived this morning."

"You're a newbie?" asked Mello, looking quite amused.

"I assure you," Light said calmly as he grabbed some cutlery from the side table, "I will not be intimidated. Don't waste your energy."

Mello growled. "So what's your name then, newbie?"

"Lucifer." said Light quite shortly as he handed the cutlery to Linda and to 'Matt', who accepted with a quiet 'thanks'.

"Lucy boy?" exclaimed Mello, looking delighted at the derogatory name. Light rolled his eyes, another downside to this stupid nickname.

"Do you really want me to start calling you Melanie, all the time, Mellie-wellie?" asked Linda fiercely, looking angry.

Mello coloured and looked like he was about to explode when the gamer boy touched his arm. "Chill out mate. You got served at your own game. Video-game fail. Though," Matt looked up from his game to look at Light, "The war is on. Prank war. Whoever cracks first, be it in grades or in sanity, loses. Deal?"

Linda was frantically shaking her head no, but Light smirked. He could take this. It had seemed a little dull here since he'd arrived. Too schedule oriented. "Why not? It should be interesting in any case."

"Game's on, mate. Mello and I vs You and whoever you want to help you. See you in class." said Matt calmly as he steered Mello towards the food service counter.

Linda looked a little shell-shocked. "I can't believe you got out of that without a single injury. I cannot believe you got out of that without any injuries. You…." She looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time.

Light shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable. Not that his ego wasn't very happy to be treated like he was some sort of God, but he wanted someone friendly here, not a minion (even though the sound of minions sounded very cool. Very, very cool.) "It wasn't anything I did. All that Matt kid's intervention. Anyway, what would you suggest?" Light asked as he glanced over the hot food.

Linda grinned. "The Roast Beef is supposed to be good. A Yorkshire pudding with gravy is stereotypically British, so you have to try that. As a good vegetarian, I'm sticking with the lovely vegetable rice that our Korean cook makes whenever we have an excess of meat on the table."

Light nodded and asked for what she suggested. Then Light's gaze fell on something that looked very familiar. "Is that Daikon Ankake?" Light asked, feeling a little disoriented. It was out of season; a winter dish served in spring, but he remembered that it was his Mother's favourite dish to make and Sayu's favourite to eat.

"That's right." said the Korean looking cook, "Japanese food, just for you? You are the new student, right?"

"Yes, that's right," said Light as the man stacked up a bowl for him, filled with the steaming concoction.

"Good. It will be a bit like cooking my homeland dishes again. For the first week. I have to make some kind of welcoming dishes for you. Ask, and I shall make them!

"Konnyaku or Kurigohan." Light answered on autopilot. This….this was surprisingly considerate. It didn't seem to be like L's behaviour to him so far, so Light assumed that this had been arranged by Watari. These two dishes were out of season as well, but Light loved them.

The man beamed. "Ah, Kurigohan. My favourite. I shall make it tomorrow! Very tasty, you'll see!"

Light nodded and smiled at the man. "Gomawoyo!" he said in Korean. It was one of Light's only knowledge of Korean words, a deficit, which Light vowed to change in his time here.

The man beamed and Light carried on walking. Linda looked at him, a contemplative expression on her face. "You're very good with people, aren't you, Lucifer?"

Light frowned. He was really starting to dislike that name. "Please," he said, "Call me Light. It's technically the meaning of Lucifer, so I shouldn't be breaking too many rules." He wondered whether this would backfire on him, whether they would guess his real name from it, but she smiled.

"I have to say, it suits you better than the name of the devil. I may not be religious, but even I think that that name is a little demonic."

Light scowled. "I think L hates me." He whined petulantly. An act of course, he knew that L didn't hate him, merely delighted in making Light's life more difficult. But he was supposed to be child.

Linda rolled her eyes. "Stop pretending Lu-Light. You obviously don't think that he hates you. You can't, if your maturity is as consistent as it has been the times that I've met you."

Light sighed, the disadvantages of being around geniuses. Nonetheless, it would help him improve his acting skills. "If you say so, Linda," said Light as they sat down at an empty table.

"Anyway, information. That's what you want right? Knowledge is power and all that?" asked Linda, as she took out her sketchbook again, eating with her left hand and drawing Light with her right hand. Light rolled his eyes as he ate the roast beef. It was good.

"Yes, I do." said Light, as she motioned for him to move his to the side a bit. He obliged and she started talking.

"Okay, so Mello's second and Matt's third in the L rankings. You can talk to them about L, though I wouldn't advise talking to Mello. You know, because he looked like he wanted to murder you."

That was fair enough advice.

"I'm fourth place, but that's only because I have an eidetic memory. I think Near does too, but Mello doesn't. So you'll see him cramming all the time. Then Elpheba," At this, she pointed towards an Indian girl with a very large green hairband, "She's fifth. She can be pretty nice, but she's very shy. She doesn't talk much. She's amazing at History though. Her recall on numbers is simply fabulous. Matt's specialty is computers and hacking. And video games. He likes video games a lot. Mello loves chocolate. And he inevitably wears leather when he feels cranky."

At this, Light couldn't stop the spit-take. "What?!" he said, after clearing his throat a little bit.

Linda smirked as she took another mouthful of rice. "You look very interesting when you're dumbfounded. You heard me, he wears leather and glares at anyone who stares at him, into submission."

Light couldn't stop the awful, horrible thoughts that came to his mind and her wording and attempted to suppress his laughter as he clutched the table and laughed. Gods, L's influence on anything just spawned far too many creepy mental images. His father would have had a stroke.

Linda looked at him oddly but she too was giggling. Light was now aware that the whole room was staring at them, but he couldn't stop wheezing for breath. Gods, the images would scar him forever…he had a far too active imagination. While it was what made him an effective actor and detective, it really needed refinement about when to show up.

"Lucifer?" asked Near as he approached their table, looking a little perturbed. "Are you alright?"

Light regained balance and pinched himself sharply to regain some sanity. "I'm fine, thanks Near. I appreciate your concern. Will you sit with us for lunch?"

Now he was sure that the whole room was glaring at them. "Why not?" said Near, as he clambered up onto the chair. He too hunched over like L and poked at his salad. There was moment's silence before everyone went back to their previous activities. Perhaps he was paranoid, but Light was certain that they were all talking about he and Near and Linda.

"Anyway," said Linda, continuing as if nothing had happened, "Mello likes chocolate a lot, so if you ever want to defeat him, deprive him of chocolate, and he'll fall from the lack of sugar. But you'll never get rid of sugar at Wammy's. We have a whole fridge dedicated to sugary items."

"Really?" Light asked. "Near, is this true?"

Near nodded. "L particularly likes sugar. Whenever he visits, Roger and Wammy always stock up on the sugar items, because everyone and L eat so much."

Light shuddered, he hated sugar with a near vengeance (that was an awfully unintentional pun, on his behalf, he believed). "Sugar is just so disgusting and awful for your body in high quantities. I don't eat sugary stuff, unless it's in other food, like in fruits, where it occurs naturally."

Linda blinked. "Okay, I have to ask. Are you an alien? Every child likes chocolate!"

Light found himself chuckling again and to his surprise, Near also joined in.

Linda frowned. "Okay," she said, "Now it's confirmed. You are an alien. Near has never laughed. At all."

Light merely cracked up and Near laughed all the harder and she frantically started sketching, a bewildered expression etched on her face.

(X)

Overall, Light found this whole routine average. He'd been here a week and though the work was harder than the torture he had been placed through as a middle school genius and he was never starved for intelligent conversation, but he learnt everything here so easily. It wasn't a challenge, because the staff weren't making it a challenge, which annoyed him severely. What made the whole experience tolerable were his friends.

Light had never had friends back in Japan, because the children there were dull and concerned about their own life affairs, rather than anything that Light found interesting. But here, he could literally talk to anyone that looked about his age about quantum mechanics, Euclidean geometry or Jungian archetypes and people would know what he was talking about, have opinions on it and argue with him for hours about it. It was…interesting to say in the least.

Light was currently the oldest child at Wammy's and therefore did find himself just a tad smarter than those he talked with, but he found talking with the top five of his competition for L's place to be supremely interesting. Not that he actually found himself talking to Mello and Matt normally. More, their intellectual competition was proving to be rather amusing.

Already, in the first week, they had struck back with replacing all of his notes or bits of paper with extracts from the Bible about Lucifer becoming Satan, much to Linda's amusement. He wasn't quite sure how they'd managed to do it, but even he had to crack a smile, especially when he'd come up to present a mini presentation of Pigpen cipher, all of his powerpoint presentation had been replaced with demonic symbols and Satan worshipping ideas and pentagrams drawn in blood. One of the more hyperactive children had fainted, but the teacher had been very calm about it and allowed Light to present at a later time period. Apparently, this was a regular occurrence.

Light had analysed the incident. Mello's idea, obviously. The catholic boy would accuse him of being a devil worshipper. But the actual prank…reeked of someone who oozed with confidence and arrogance. Not Mello, who had an inferiority complex the size of Jupiter, the way he needed to be first t o prove himself to the world, but Matt. Hadn't Linda told him that Matt was good with computers? And he'd seen the arrogance in lessons. Almost undeniable.

Near, to his surprise, had not repeated the incident on the first day. He hadn't avoided them per say, but never came up to them and simply kept on doing whatever he was doing when Light had attempted conversation. Light supposed that this was why the other children never seemed to talk with him, but really, Light was nothing if not determined.

He had cemented Near's friendship when he had seen the boy putting together what seemed to be a 1000 piece puzzle alone. He hadn't gotten very far, considering that the pieces were nearly all white. Light frowned as he perched on the sofa next to where Near was slowly placing pieces into the cardboard area. It seemed a little bit easier to figure out when you were above it; easier to see the bigger picture. Perhaps that was why L liked to sit and watch the way he did. To L, crime was nothing but a puzzle to be solved. To Light, crime was dastardly and needed to be stopped at all costs. His father hadn't been around long enough at home for Light to know him well or even idolize him, but Light had understood that what mattered to his father most was justice and honour. More than even family.

He suddenly saw where a few pieces needed to go. "Hmm," Light said, picking up a piece from beside Near and placing it on the board, in the middle of nowhere. "This one goes here I believe. And the one you are holding goes next to it. Right?"

Near looked at him oddly. "Most people would start outside and work their way in."

Light smiled. "When have any of us here, been normal? In any case, call it a gut instinct. I think I'm right with this, and you know it too."

Near nodded. "Perhaps." He said and placed the piece he was holding next to Light's. There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated the board. "Not many would consider it a good use of their time to complete a puzzle."

"Yet, they are not first in the rankings. Maybe there's something to it?" said Light. "Either way, I find it interesting. Rushing around is boring. Introspection was always more amusing and interesting."

Near had given him a cool glance and they had finished the puzzle together.

Linda had also been surprisingly interesting. She had always waited up for him on the stairs in the mornings, usually with some kind of art in her hands. She'd been pleasant to talk to, but what had really made Light sit up straight and notice her was when at the end of the first week, she'd handed him a large sketchbook.

"Here," she'd said, "It's not the best sketchbook I could make. You're difficult to draw, because you're always thinking and your expression always changes."

Light had accepted the book and had started. It was filled with sketches of him. There were some of him laughing, some of him smiling, some of him looking pensive, some of him looking angry. There was a full-figure image of him, standing and looking proud, but more of them were of his bored and conceited look that had become his standard mask face. What stood out about all of them were how filled with life and texture they were. All of them looked like him and even if some of them were a little simple and obviously very quickly captured, they looked alive.

"This….this is amazing….." Light had stammered.

Linda had shook her head. "It was nothing. You're difficult to draw. Usually I fill the whole sketchbook by the end of the first week, but for you, only half of the notebook. It's because there are days that you have the same expression on. It's kind of difficult drawing the same thing over and over."

Light had rolled his eyes and flicked it open. "Stop being modest. Here, these two have the same expression, but it's obvious that they're different. It's amazing, just a couple of lines and you can change my expression entirely."

She had flushed. "Thanks, but I'm just a capturer of the expressions you make. You're the artist, not me."

Modest too. It wasn't fake either, like his mother's friends would fish for compliments at the parties they attended. She genuinely didn't believe that she had an extraordinary talent. She acknowledged she was an artist of course. Saying otherwise would have been stupidity, but she didn't seem to think that her talent was what made the art come alive. Interesting. He'd never met someone quite that delusionally talented.

Of course, the icing on the cake had been Light's pre-emptive victory. He had been planning an attack on Mello after the mockery that Mello and Matt had made of his name and room number but had not bothered after Linda had ran into his room, pulled him out and rapped at the rankings chart. In his first week at Wammy's, Light had beaten out Near, Mello and Matt for the 1st position.

Light had won that round. What was going to be the retaliation? The intellectual game of cat and mouse, was on.

**AN: Review, please. Reviews are like my food. They make my day and have me squeeing around the room in joy. And I always reply (unless you haven't signed in). I will happily have a conversation with you about anything. **


	3. Chapter 3

**The Heirs To A Spider's Web**

**Chapter 3**

**AN: Thanks for the responses! Remember, I love reviews, so review, please. Oh yes, warnings for Mello and Matt having filthy mouths. (I swear, they write it, not me!)**

Light had not won. He had most definitely not won. It was Sunday morning and Mello and Matt had definitely gone out of their way to make him very uncomfortable. Payback for his grade on Friday, he presumed. He walked out of him room feeling very perturbed in only his pyjamas (still fitted obviously; Light almost never wore store-bought clothes) and knocked on Linda's door. He would need a lot of help if he was to solve this particular discomfort.

"Light?" she murmured, as she opened the door. "What are you doing? It's almost five in the morning. Not a healthy time to be awake. Drawing skills are not a maximum capacity." Then she looked at him and Light rolled his eyes as she clutched at her heart. "Light…is not dressed like he's walked out of a fashion catalogue? The world has crashed and burned! We're all going to die!"

Light did not feel in the slightest bit amused, even if he did admire Matt and Mello's skill, it was too early in the morning for him to appreciate what they had done, just the two of them. "That would be because there is nothing left in my room. All there are, are several post-it characters with various video-game characters drawn on them with a sheet of paper saying that I have this morning to find all of my personal items or they get destroyed."

Linda blinked before walking out of her room and walking over to Light's. He rolled his eyes, but really this was something you need to see to believe. She blinked at the post-it covered room and the lack of anything apart from his bed. "My god…." She uttered, "And they did this in one night?"

Light nodded grimly.

"You've got to tell Roger!" she exclaimed. "The Lucifer thing was all very well, you studied just fine without the notes anyway. Not like you had much notes in the first place, but this is outright stealing. And they'll destroy it too?"

Light shook his head. "I can't. It's a game, Linda, and I'm determined to not lose. Getting Roger involved is a sure-fire way of losing any respect I would have gained. I need help and I know how to get it, but on a Sunday, when everyone is going to church? I somehow have to persuade all the students here to help here, miss church or get up and early in the morning to still be able to go to church."

Linda snorted. "Good luck with that. I don't see why that involves me."

Light glared at her. Dammit, he'd befriended her with the implied idea that she would become the pliant sidekick, not the smart-ass sideliner. He did not a smartass sideliner. He had plenty of smartass sideliners. Like L. And Sayu. And possibly Near. He did not need more! There were days that Light wanted minions so badly…..

"It involves you because I am very politely asking you to help me find my things." said Light, knowing that his acting was a little overdone as he placed an equal amount of sugar and venom into his voice.

"Waking me up at five am was not a polite request. It was a rude awakening. Try again." said Linda, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting. Light sighed, this was too much. He did however require her help and the fact that she was friendly with everyone, really would help him.

"I'm very sorry for the very rude awakening Linda. I really do need your help, so please, can you help me?" Light begged.

Linda looked tempted. "I can help you." She said and Light groaned. He was not a native English speaker, this was not funny and he was not awake enough to deal with this.

"Please MAY you help me find my belongings that Matt and Mello have hidden all over Wammy's?" he nearly growled.

Linda grinned. "Course I will. Come on then, we've got one morning and a lot of people to visit!"

Light rolled his eyes and stalked after her as she ran down the stairs.

(X)

It was a long and arduous process that took them to 6:30 am in the morning, but Light and Linda had managed to gather 50 children to go on a scavenger hunt. They had treated it like it was Easter and they would need to go find these things as a way of testing their skills. Enchanted by the ideas, the younger ones were happy to go along, thinking it something quite funny. The older ones saw it as a prank, and knowing Mello's tendencies towards violence, merely told him that he was very lucky.

Light thought that Mello was the lucky one to have escaped a fight with Light; Light knew how to fight because people were often jealous of his skills and his talents. Fighting had become a necessity and eventually, just another part of the routine.

The video game characters led to clues and Light was happy to sit back and let 50 bright children run around and find his things. He was around for the grunt work of carrying his bookcase and suitcase up six flights of stairs of course, but mostly, he sat back and relaxed. He loved how easy it was to manipulate people.

"That was easy," Light said, as the last of his possessions were returned to the room.

Linda threw him a look. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes." Light said. "With everyone's help, it was easy. I couldn't have done it without them." This was obviously for the benefit of the people still in earshot, so Light noticed that Linda merely pulled a face at him.

"How're you going to pay them back?" Linda asked as she perched on his bed, when the last of the people trooped out of his room to head to Church.

"Homework help, sweets, protection from Mello, what else? None of them are quite old enough to blackmail into doing anything." Light said as he opened his wardrobe. "Now thank you for your help, but scram. I really need to change. My pyjamas are not the most dignified attire to wear around all day. I'm not Near, thank you very much."

Linda pulled another face at him. "Someday, your ego will drag you down, Lucifer." She said, looking at him with a vague look of disgust. The full codename, ouch. Light was feeling a little too casual for her tastes. Frankly, he was a little too busy plotting revenge to care altogether too much.

"Probably." Light said as he selected a green shirt from the back of the wardrobe, which had been hidden in the bushes, as camouflage. "But you're my friend and you'll probably stop that from happening."

"Probably." said Linda as she walked out the room. "But only maybe."

"Mmm." Light said. She was definitely not the one to turn to for a pliant sidekick. Shame really, she was quite pretty. "Shut the door behind you, please."

(X)

Light retaliated a few days later, on Wednesday morning. He was woken from his rest by a sharp rap on the door and an amused look from Linda as he opened it without combing his hair or changing out of his pyjamas.

"You're late to breakfast." She said, looking faintly surprised. "You're always on time." Light had been here for all of two weeks and he already had a schedule of what he did on a regular basis. He wondered whether this was a good or a bad thing.

"I'm just a little tired from the events of last night." said Light, feeling a yawn coming on. "Anyway, I'm not as late as Matt and Mello are going to be."

Linda stared at him. "You retaliated." She said, stating it quite blandly. She looked vaguely amused, grabbing a small sketchbook and a pencil from her pockets. "Will I need this?"

Light nodded. "I think you'll need a bigger sketchbook than that to have a proper idea of what I've done to them. Go grab them and some warmer clothes. I'll just change while you do that."

Linda's smirk was almost demonic as she dashed out of the room. Light got changed quickly and they both headed downstairs, wrapping a scarf around their own throats. They each grabbed a bit of toast as Light herded Linda towards the Lake.

The sight that greeted them was rather amusing. Matt and Mello's beds were tethered to the middle of the lake with a few bits of string and were floating on large inflatable airbeds. Matt was wide awake and looked terrified but Mello was still half-asleep.

Linda blinked and looked at Light again, feeling a little perturbed. "I'm not going to ask how you managed that. I believe that I don't want to know."

"Morning!" Light trilled, feeling quite mischievous, ignoring Linda's previous speech completely.

Linda was in silent fits of giggles as her fingers whipped across the piece of paper, mapping the surroundings of the scene. Mello seemed to awake fully at this and screamed rather loudly as he realized the situation.

"YOU!" He screeched.

"Yes, me." Light said. "Do you want some toast?"

"You bastard!" called Matt, "You find this funny! How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

Light grinned, feeling very, very demonic. "I think, if I were the one stranded in the middle of the lake and you two were on the shore, you'd find it quite funny too. And the answer to that is that there are two solutions. Either you give up the war and I'll pull your beds up to the shore, or you don't and I cut the cords, let you drift and then you'll have to swim back to the shore."

Linda stopped sketching, looking completely flabbergasted. "That's evil, Light!" she exclaimed, keeping back giggles.

Light shrugged. "Probably. Sure you don't want that toast, Matt?"

The answer to that was a large string of swear words and screaming in three languages Light understood and six that Light didn't, which led Light to wonder, how a pair of eight year olds had the swearing vocabulary of a thirty year old sailor.

"Suit yourselves." Light said and cut the cords, much to the amusement of Linda whose legs had given out by now and was cackling with laughter.

Later on that morning, in the middle of C++ Computer Coding. Matt walked in, looking completely drenched and dirty, his usual orange goggles hanging around his face and his clothes covered in mud. Light waved at him cheerily. Matt's only response was a middle finger up and a mouthed 'Fuck You' as he took his chair.

Light had won again.

(X)

"You know," Near said, as Light staggered past him, his usually monochrome wardrobe now a neon pink, "I would have pulled out the stops by now."

"Not happening." Light said, as he sat down in the chair next to him, "This is supposed to be a friendly, potentially embarrassing prank war, not a devastating one. When I pull out my stops, I aim to injure or kill, Near. I may not like Mello, but I don't want to seriously injure or kill him."

"One less person as competition, though, right?" said Near, not looking up from his puzzle.

"Don't say that!" Light snapped and Near rolled his eyes.

"If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, you're nothing but a loser." said Near calmly.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly planning on losing." Light said as he started on his Pyschology homework. It had been three weeks since Light's prank with the bed and Mello and Matt had been unrelenting in their stream of pranks to make his life more difficult. He wasn't going to lose.

"Your grades are dropping as a result of the targeting though. You lose either way." said Near as he finished the puzzle. "I beat you for first place this week."

"I KNOW!" Light yelled at Near's eyebrows lifted slightly. "I know." Light repeated. "Sorry. My temper got the better of me."

"Sometimes," said Elpheba, the Indian girl in 6th place who was sitting at the other end of the study room, "You need to know when to ask for help."

Light threw a look towards her. "I don't need help." He snarled.

"That's where Mello's beating you though," said Elpheba, "He's got Matt to help him with the pranks. You're dealing with both the pranks and your grades alone. You need help."

"You offering?" Light asked, feeling skeptical and Elpheba shook her head firmly, her eyes widening as she lowered her head.

"But Linda will." said Near, as he tipped out the puzzle. "And so will I."

Light blinked. "Why will you help?" he asked, feeling a little incredulous.

Near smirked as he looked up. "Because I'm bored."

And Light grinned back, because he knew what boredom was like. "Alright then, "I had an idea, but really, it does require two people to implement it…"

(X)

"So remind me again," asked Light as they headed out into town, "Why does the local police require our help?"

Mello rolled his eyes and snapped off a slab from his chocolate bar. "Because they're incompetent fools who can't do their jobs without asking for the help of children."

"Because we help them for free and for experience and the other consulting detective that's risen up in London, calling himself Sherlock Holmes, of all things, charges money." said Linda as she tucked her sketch book back inside her pocket.

"So why just the five of us?" asked Light, feeling curious as to their answers. He knew the answers to his questions, but other people's opinions were always useful.

"Because too many cooks spoil the broth." said Matt sarcastically, not even looking up from his gameboy as they narrowly avoided being run over by a blue car.

Near, who was still wearing pyjamas and socks, even outside, frowned. "Not always. Roger could have sent less people as well. He merely wants us to get some experience of the real world."

"Yeah," said Mello, "And in the real world, people don't constantly wear pyjamas. It's just freaky."

"Leave him alone, Mello." snapped Linda and Light rolled his eyes. The banter was to be expected. He was surprised they'd managed to put this much of their differences behind them for this mini case.

"We're almost here." Light said, as he quickly glanced over his map. Technically, he'd expected someone else to get the responsibility of showing them around, someone who'd been there a little longer than a month, but looking at the group,, Light really couldn't see much real world competency in them.

"If you say so," Mello said, as he threw the chocolate wrapper into a nearby bin. "This whole thing is a waste of time."

"Gets us out of Pysch though, doesn't it?" asked Matt, "And that was a pointless subject anyway."

"Why did you take it then?" sniped Linda, irritably, "If you're so confident in your abilities that you can sleep through the class, you should have not shown up to the lessons and just done it on the final exams anyway!"

"Would you give it a rest?" Light snapped as they reached the outside of the police department. "They're hardly likely to take us seriously as it is, and us bickering like children won't help!"

"Aren't we children though?" Matt asked slyly, as his gameboy made an awful lot of noise. Light grabbed it out of his hand, turned it off and put it inside his coat pocket.

"Not at this point we aren't. At this point, we're professionals, and our ages don't matter. Now focus, please!" Light snapped and Matt looked at him with incredulity.

Suppressing the urge to throttle everyone, Light walked in through the automatic doors.

"We're here for the missing child investigation. Miranda Hooper's case?" Light asked as politely as possible to the lady at the counter. She looked quite perturbed, and Light could see why. They weren't exactly the most normal looking of people in the police headquarters. What with Mello in his leather jacket, Matt and his stripes that made him look like a convict, Near in his pyjamas that were now stained with rain and mud, and Linda in her messy, charcoal smeared dungarees, none of them quite looked capable enough to help find the child.

"Right, yes." She said, sounding very skeptical. Light beamed at her and immediately, she seemed to speed up the process of pressing buttons. "Through that door there. Detective Inspector Matthews will be with you shortly."

"Thank you!" Light said, warmly, faking everything about him to hide to annoyance he had at his fellow classmates.

Detective Inspector Matthews looked worn out as he came towards them. His brown hair was messy (hands rifling through them, stress related), his trousers were flecked with mud (recently been outside, possibly actually searching for Miranda?) and his eyes had dark bags underneath them. His fingers had an indent for a wedding ring that was no longer there (recently divorced) and there was mud underneath his fingernails (definitely searching for Miranda).

"You're from Wammys?" he asked, looking very skeptical. "Representatives of L?"

Light inwardly rolled his eyes but smiled instead outwardly, oozing as much confidence as possible to reassure the tired man. "Yes, that's right. I assure you, we'll solve this case quite quickly. My name is Light. That's Mello, Matt, Linda and Near." He said, pointing towards them respectively. "If you could brief us about the situation?"

"Right," the detective said as he led them through the paperwork areas. "Well, exactly 30 hours ago, Miranda Hooper, aged 16, was reported missing by her parents. She was supposed to be at her house at eight, after her football practice, but she never arrived. The last time anyone tangibly saw her was at the club, when it ended at 7:30pm yesterday. The CCTV footage shows her walking down Monks Road at 7:37pm but she isn't seen along the next area with CCTV cameras, along the route she takes to her house along Hyde Gate. It's as if she just vanished from inbetween there."

"Nobody just vanishes." said Light, 'There's always a reason for their disappearance."

"Right," said Mello, "What was her relationship with her parents?"

The detective shot a glare at Mello. "We already investigated that. It was a good relationship. No major arguments, nothing that would warrant her just disappearing."

"Any peer pressure at school?" asked Linda, as they entered a smaller room with a computer and several files over the desk.

"None that we're aware of." said the detective.

"Have you talked to her friends? Was there anyone bullying her? Targeting her? Any reason she'd be particularly unhappy or want to run away?" asked Light, as he contemplated reasons that this would happen.

"She didn't run away!" shouted the detective.

"Calm down detective," said Near, speaking up for the first time, twirling his hair between his fingers. "There is no progress made in frustration. If she did not run away, she was kidnapped. Who were the people on CCTV at the time with her, in the Monks Road cameras?"

The detective shook his head. "Two people. But it was night and they were wearing coats. Their faces were obscured. We won't be able to tell."

"Have you got the footage on your desktop?" asked Matt and the detective nodded. Matt quickly went to the computer and frowned. "Password, Mr. Matthews?"

The detective entered them in and Light frowned as Matt got to work creating a better image for their viewing and perusal. He would need his time. No point wasting it, better investigate where she disappeared. "Have you got a map of the area?" asked Light and the detective nodded. He searched through the papers and pulled one out. Mello and Light both pored over it.

"Here," said Mello, 'There's this area, along this part of King Alfred's Place, looks like a likely place where she could be snatched up. She lives along Hyde Gate, right?" he said, directing his question to the detective.

Matthews nodded. "Yes, on the end of Hyde Gate."

"Right then, makes sense she'd take a shortcut through that small path, looping around the main road to her house. Thing is, that's a small road that links to the backs of several houses, and the investigation and interrogation of all of them would take too long." said Mello, frowning, talking aloud.

"I think actually heading there and looking around would be for the best. I'd like to take some DNA samples and search around a bit." said Light, "Getting into what she would have been thinking is a good idea.

"I'll come with you," Mello said, "Four eyes are better than two."

"Staying here," said Matt, not looking up, "I'll see if I can get a better image of the two people that were there. They might have seen what she did or maybe even be the people who kidnapped her."

"Also staying here," Linda said, "I'm more useful here. And I want to go over talking with her friends again."

Near looked at Light. "I'll stay here too. Take some pictures though and send them through your mobile. And see if you can find any footprints or solid evidence to prove she was there."

Light rolled his eyes. "You don't need to tell me. Come on Mello, Mr. Matthews."

(X)

It was a cold and windy day in Winchester, but that was hardly something new. They arrived, by taking the police car along to Monks Road, but Light had insisted on walking the way that Miranda had walked on her way to the house, for more evidence as to her stuff.

"What does she even look like?" asked Mello, as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Did you even take the time to read over the file about her that we received?" asked Light, as he scanned the area.

"No. I had better things to do." said Mello, scowling as he breathed out into the crisp morning air, created a cloud of steam.

The road was gravelly and old, filled with potholes and faded yellow lines. Grass grew up from any place that had even the slightest gap and there was a smooth coating of water from the rain, the night before. The houses loomed up around the road, not a single gap inbetween them, and gum with cigarette butts littered the pavements. Not the place you'd want a child to be walking in the evening.

"She looks like the average English person. Brown hair, brown eyes. She had short hair, stub chin, quite muscley, because she's a football player. She won't have been kidnapped easily, because of her strength, so look for the signs of a struggle. Be meticulous about it though, the rain will have washed away a lot of our evidence." Light said, absently giving orders.

"I'm not your subordinate, you don't order me about." said Mello, a venom to his voice.

"I know that. But you'll obey this time round because it makes sense, and we want to find Miranda and prove our competency." said Light as he knelt by the start of the walking path. "Here, take a look at this."

Mello kneeled by Light and stared at the grass. "I don't see it."

Light sighed. "There's a clump of something here. Can we get a sample of it and bag it up? I think it might be something important, but I don't know."

Light walked away, leaving Mello with it. Moments later, Mello caught up with him. "I thought I told you to—"

"Matthews is dealing with it." Mello said shortly. "Over there, is that a bit of red caught in that tree?"

Light sprinted over after Mello and stared. There were a few scraps of red cloth in the tree that looked like they came from the material to make football shirts. But there were also some brown strands, cotton based by the look of the weave.

"Can't be that easy…" Light said.

Mello was looking at the ground. "Here, there are a few footprints in the mud." he said.

"One of them's a trainer print." said Light, quickly looking over the imprint.

"Small too." said Mello, "That'd be the Miranda girl's shoe then."

"Step back for me." said Light. "I'll send a picture over to Near, to see if he confirms our opinions. I can't tell which kind of shoe the second pair is. Looks like some expensive loafers. If he can research them up as well, that'd be great."

Mello moved out of the way and Light quickly snapped a photo. He attached it to a text message and asked _'Opinions?'._

"Mello, can we make Plaster of Paris negatives of the imprints?" asked Light.

Mello shook his head. "No point. They're too mixed up. It won't be a very good print."

"It's a worth a shot though, isn't it?" asked Light and Mello pulled a face. "Fine, you insistent arse. Matthews!"

Light quickly took some plastic bags from Matthews, turned it inside out, and picked up the strands of red cloth from the tree in one bag and the strands of brown in the other and sealed them up quickly. As he did this, the detective inspector carried a large container of the grey plaster towards them and Mello poured it into the indents, making sure that it set evenly around the prints.

Light's phone buzzed and he opened it. Near was calling him.

"Near." He answered curtly.

"English Size 4 trainer shoe, Adidas, 1997 make, new edition with the spikes that football players use. That particular shoe belonged to Miranda Cooper, correct?" Near stated blandly.

Light exhaled in relief. "Good, you came to the same conclusions as me. The other print?"

"More difficult to identify. It's a fake Berluti pair of loafers. Size 40, European, cheap make from Italy, usually from the stalls around streets, rather than a proper establishment. Indicates that the kidnapper is either Italian or has been abroad for a long period of time." Near said, stating the facts about the shoe. But Light was interested in a little more than just the facts.

"Yes, but it also implies a bit about our kidnapper's character. He wants to be seen as being rich and powerful, even if he actually isn't. Inferiority or Superiority complex, I'd assume. Either way, this guy isn't some teenager trying to prank Miranda, or any old hobo off the streets. He's definitely got some kind of motive for kidnapping her, which could mean that she's still alive." Light said as he looked at the scene again.

"One more thing to note, is that he's sloppy and working alone. We have indications of a struggle here, but the evidence in the prints is still there, and I have scraps of two different types of cloth in the tree. A red cloth from football shirt's, which I'm assuming is Miranda's and some other cotton-based material in brown. I've bagged both separately and we'll bring them back to the police station. Does it have a lab?" Light said, quickly listing off what else he'd deduced from the scene.

"No," Near said after a pause, "No lab. We'll have to go to the local hospital. They usually have a section set up for the police. We'll analyse them there. We'll arrive before you. Anything you want set up specifically?"

"The chromatography of the inks on the brown cloth. I want to see if the cloth's dye is cheap or expensive, to co—"

"Don't tell me what you expect." interrupted Near, "That's one of the major logic fallacies that led to the failure of Blondlot and the N-Rays. You don't need me to remind you about that."

Light nearly groaned, he'd forgotten about that particular incident. Don't reveal what you expect to happen to the person you want to confirm it. It was called blinding and it was a basic principle of any kind of experiment. Stupid of Light to forget about it really, it was one of the first lessons he'd learned in the logic lessons. Yes, that's right, Wammy's House had logic lessons. Apparently, it hadn't been common enough in students, that it had become a compulsory subject, along with Maths, Science and Literature.

"Anyway, just get the lab assistants to set that up. I'll be there as soon as possible, with Mello." said Light and shut the phone.

Mello looked at him expectantly. "Done now?" he asked.

"Yes," said Light, "Let's go to the Hospital."

Mello rolled his eyes. "Brilliant, it's just crime scene after crime scene."

Light rolled his eyes and strolled back towards the car.

(X)

"How fascinating," Light said as he observed the brown dye that the lab assistants had siphoned off from one of the strands. It was one of the cheap dyes made in some rural part of Indonesia, as identified by the experiments, which confirmed his theory as to the man wanting too look rich and powerful, even if he actually wasn't.

"I really can't see anything that is particularly interesting about that." said Mello, "It's paint on a sheet with lots of water."

Light rolled his eyes. "It confirms my theory; that in turn, makes it fascinating."

"Oh, so it's an aid to your God complex, I should have known." Mello retorted, looking annoyed. Light suppressed the urge to throttle him; this was the fourth unhelpful remark from Mello.

"Mello, don't. Look, just go get some chocolate from the vending machines and come back when you're actually ready to contribute to this investigation." Light snapped and Mello stuck his tongue out at Light before stalking out of the lab.

Near frowned and looked up from his particular test on the fabric. "The fabric itself is 85% cotton and 15% polyester. Looks like it came from a blazer. There are cells on it, so I'm running the DNA scans for now."

Light nodded and blearily set his head back. It was around lunchtime and he was very hungry, having not eaten any breakfast and that was really starting to cloud his thinking.

"Near," he said, "I'm going to take a quick food break. Do you want anything?"

"No thank you." Near said, "I shall inform you when this search is finished."

Light nodded and walked out of the lab, ditching the latex gloves into a nearby bin. Just then, his phone started ringing. Light suppressed a sigh and flicked it open.

"Linda." He greeted shortly.

"Hey Light, I've been interviewing Miranda's friends. Apparently, she's a history whiz and the history teacher has been very favouring towards her in class. It sounded a little off to me, so I interviewed one of her closest friends and apparently, he was suggesting inappropriate things to her when she stayed after class to finish up projects. I think he's our main suspect right now."

Light blanked. "Isn't school in session now?" he asked.

"Yes, but the teacher didn't show up. He called in a sick day. His name's Ludo Caraleno. Italian origin, visits there quite often. Majored in Greek and Roman Artefacts. He's not married and he has a house along King Alfred Place."

"That's really suspicious." Light mused, feeling quite disgusted. "Have you got any of the interviewees still with you?"

"Yes, one of her friends." Linda said, quite brusquely, "She should still be around."

"Before she leaves, ask her, off the record, what kind of personality her history teacher has as a teacher and his teaching methods." Light said as he headed towards a vending machine to buy a packet of barbeque crisps.

"Got it. By the way, Matt thought he had something the last time I was in there. I'd call him if I were you. He'll never remember on the verge of a discovery." Linda said, before she too shut off her phone.

Light frowned. The packet of crisps fell quickly, as Light inserted a pound into the machine. He gathered it up and opened it, before dialing Matt's number on his phone.

"Who is it?" asked Matt, sounding preoccupied.

"It's Light." Light said, "Linda said you'd made some progress on the CCTV images?"

"Yeah, I'm just running the search for the faces. It's taking some time. I also managed to clear them up a bit. There's a guy in some suit, brown suit and then a kid in a hoodie."

"Brown suit?" Light asked. The evidence was pointing closer and closer towards this Italian guy.

His phone rang again and Light sighed and hung up on Matt. "Yes Near?" he asked as the caller ID came up.

"DNA results came back. It's some Italian guy called—"

"Ludo Caraleno?" Light asked, almost matter-of-factly.

"Yes, that's right." said Near, his voice sounding quite surprised. "How did you know?"

"All of the evidence is pointing towards him. I'm going to find Matthews and persuade him to make the arrest and search his house. Can you tell me the man's exact address?"

"Yes I can," Near said, "It's 34 King Alfred Place."

Light nodded, before realizing that Near couldn't see him. "Thanks. Bye."

He clicked the phone off and started jogging out of the hospital. He collided straight with Mello who was walking back to the room.

"Light?" he asked, looking confused.

"Come on, no time to waste; we've got a lead. Ludo Caraleno. 34 King Alfred Place, history teacher, Italian, showing interest in Miranda in classes, almost too much so, especially in a romantic context. Pervert. And then he lives along the route that Miranda walks home along? Too much of a coincidence for me."

Mello nodded. "Makes sense. Are we going to arrest him then?" he said as they careered down the corridors of the hospital.

"No, we'd need a warrant for that. No, we just have to try and get him on the suspect list." Light said. He banged into Mello, who had stopped still in the corridor.

"Are you fucking insane?" asked Mello, whose eyes were widened, almost comically so. "You're just going to leave her there? Who knows what that son of a bitch could be doing to her, this very second!" Mello was sounding increasingly panicked and Light felt like they were hitting a personal point.

"We've got no other choice. If we move too fast, we become illegal and he can't be tried properly in court." said Light, looking annoyed.

"Fuck that." Mello spat, "Fuck it all. We can't just leave her there. Come on."

Light now found himself following Mello for the sole purpose of trying to stop him. "Stop it, Mello! We can't just disregard the law!"

"Hell to that!" he yelled, "We're busting her out!"

Light found himself running towards Mello as they passed Matthews. "Matthews, get a warrant for Ludo Caraleno!" Light yelled as he attempted to keep pace with Mello.

Mello keep running along the pavement. "Mello, where are you going? We can't run all the way to King Alfred's Place." Light yelled.

"We're not. We're running to the Police Department, where Matt will get us a car and we'll drive to King Alfred's Place." said Mello, as he slowed a little, shedding the leather coat, in favor for his black t-shirt.

Light rolled up the sleeves of his fitted shirt and suppressed a growl, which he found himself doing all too often today. "You can't just do that Mello!" Light yelled again.

"Watch me!" Mello said angrily, kicking Light in the shins before sprinting down the pavement.

Light didn't bother following, he might have been athletic, but Mello knew the routes better and was more determined that Light was. Instead, he grabbed his phone.

"Matt." He said as soon as it connected. "When Mello arrives at the Police Department, I need you to slow him down for me. If you can't do it alone, get Linda to help. He wants to just run into Caraleno's home and get Miranda out."

"I can't see what's wrong with that." Matt said.

"You can't- It's against the bloody law! You can't just do that! It'll mean that we'll have serious questions to answer when it comes to the court case for this whole thing! It might mean that Caraleno goes free because we interfered too early!" Light screeched, feeling his voice go embarrassingly high.

"Key word," exclaimed Matt, "It might. It might not. Are we really going to condemn her to another day of her scared torture because we waited for bureaucracy to get the paperwork sorted? Screw that. If the worst comes to worse, I'll hack the records to make it look like we did that."

Light growled as Matt hung up on him. Brilliant. Did no one make sense here?

Detective Inspector Matthews had driven up next to Light. "Hey kid, what's going on?"

Light felt his eyes flash and he bolted into the car. "Drive me to Police headquarters quick. When you're there, get a warrant for his arrest for the kidnapping. A man called Ludo Caraleno. Linda, the girl with dungarees will tell you if you can't remember the name. Mello's going to confront him, and I'm going to try and stop him."

Matthews looked horrified. "Someone needs to go with you, kid."

"Who's got the authority?" asked Light bitterly. "You need to do the warrant because you're the chief and there didn't seem to be many others on the case with you."

Matthews looked annoyed. "You're going to take someone who can carry a gun with you, even if it's one of the interns."

Light was reminded of Matsuda and almost shuddered. "No thank you. They'd just be in the way. Unless we can get someone competent, which we can't, just leave me to deal with Mello."

Light sighed, he really didn't want to have to pull out the stops. He might have to, here. He might not like Mello too much, but even he didn't want to seriously injure Mello.

They turned into the Police Department and to Light's horror; he could see Matt and Mello getting into a car. Without waiting for Matthews to brake, Light opened the door and ran out of the car, slipping a little bit and grazing his knee. He quickly got back up again and got inside the car, just as Matt started the engine.

"We can't do this!" Light said again, to Mello and Matt's utter surprise. The car stalled then shuddered.

"How did you get here?" asked Mello, looking incredulous.

"Matthews. You'd be surprised what you can do when you take into account that the little details still exist." said Light coldly. "Do you want to screw up the guy getting convicted? I know law like the back of my hand. Be it Japanese or American or English. If there isn't a reliable witness to the crime, you need a warrant for the arrest, or else the criminal's lawyers can sue the police and if they're good enough, they can get him completely off the hook, without even a slap on the wrist. I am not having you screw that up by being reckless. This guy deserves a life in prison."

"Tough luck Lucy," said Matt, as the car moved backwards harshly, throwing Light against the back seat, "You're just coming along for the ride."

Light scowled, he would tackle Matt here and now, but all that would do was result in a car accident. He'd have to wait it out, and Matt knew it. Damn it, he'd have to hope that the paperwork for a warrant wouldn't take too long to fill out.

Mello scowled as Light's phone rang. "Yes, hello?" Light said as he answered politely.

"Light! What the hell's going on?" asked Linda, sounding a little panicky.

"We…. are in violation of police acts, as we're attempting to arrest someone without a police officer present, no actual way of apprehending the suspect and no warrant. And I can't stop the madness without causing an accident. So basically, as far as laws go, we're screwed." said Light as they turned right with a sharp tug, pulling him along the backseat, hitting the wall of the car with a smack.

"Roger's going to kill us…." Linda moaned.

"Probably, yes." Light hissed as they turned another corner. "Could you take some care with your driving? And isn't driving under 16 years of age illegal?" he asked Mello, covering the phone.

"Put your fucking seatbelt on, you jackarse." hissed Mello, "It's your own bloody fault anyway. And does it look like we care about the bloody law?"

Light stuck his middle finger up at them as he strapped himself in. "Linda," he said, "How long is the warrant taking?"

"Matthews has to find it first, but they've got ready-made ones prepared so they can get going immediately. Once he's found it, all he has to do is sign it and we'll be on your tail."

"Got it." Light answered, looking out the window. They were almost there. "Listen, I'm hanging up. Call me back when you're leaving. Don't expect a reply or me to even pick up. Just call me, okay?"

"I understand." She said and Light hung up.

"Okay Mello, we're fine now. He's almost got a warrant, so we can push it a little bit. But tell me, because I'm _fascinated_. How _do_ you plan to arrest him?" Light asked, lacing sarcasm into his words.

"Easy," Matt said, "I nicked a pair of handcuffs from the headquarters."

Light gritted his teeth. "We don't have ID or anything to back that up, though."

"Actually," said Matt, grinning, "We do. I mocked one up really quickly. It won't stand up to proper investigation and we'll have to destroy them once real police get here, but they're good mockeries."

Light blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Brilliant, nothing was changing. "Matt, do you have any idea how illegal that is?" he hissed, venom placed inside his voice.

"Every idea." said Mello, "It could get us 5 years in juvie and 10 years in normal prison for fraudulent behaviour. But we're doing it anyway. That girl has got to be terrified out of her wits, and we aren't just leaving her there."

Light threw his hands up in the air. "I'm not going to be able to convince you otherwise, am I?"

"Nope." said Mello, popping the p.

"Great," said Light as he leant back in his seat, "Just brilliant. We're committing barely legal activities in upholding 'justice'. And what a grey concept that is."

"We can discuss the morality of this later," said Mello, as Matt haphazardly parked outside King Alfred's Place, "Preferably after Roger has lectured us into oblivion."

"Brilliant. That's so reassuring." said Light as he came out of the car, pulling the pen-knife out of his coat pocket.

Both Matt and Mello gaped at him. "Dude…" Matt said, staring at the knife, "And you're lecturing us about legality when you're carrying a big-ass knife around."

Light rolled his eyes. "This is not illegal. I use this for opening mail. It has a perfectly valid reason for existence."

Matt paled a little, though for what reason, Light couldn't fathom.

Light rung the doorbell of number 34 and waited. There was no response. Light pressed the doorbell again. Again, there was no response. As if nobody was home. But appearances could be deceiving.

"Come on," said Mello, snapping angrily, "We'll have to break the door down."

"Right then," Light said, that had been what he was going to suggest, "Kick the door, near the handle, very hard. I'll leave that to you Mello."

Mello sneered and kicked very hard at the door. It didn't budge. Light threw Mello a look. He was sure that Mello could do it; the coiled strength in Mello's body was easy to see. It was a strength that Light didn't completely have. Mello hit the door again and this time it splintered open.

Light kept the knife close to him and Matt, for once, was paying attention to what he was doing.

The corridors were dark but seemed fairly normal. "Let's split up and see if we can find them," Mello whispered as they checked all the rooms.

Matt pulled a face. "No need," he said, "I can hear them upstairs."

Mello looked vaguely green as they sped up the stairs. Soon Light could hear soft whimpers and grunts.

"Sick bastard." Matt said, looking nauseated and it was the only time that Light would agree with the foul language.

Mello grabbed Light's knife. "Deal with the girl." He said shortly before running into the room. "Hands up, you paedophile, you're under arrest!"

Matt ran in after and Light came in afterwards, hesitating a little. Miranda was curled up in the corner, whimpering a little. Her clothes were nowhere in sight so Light unhooked his jacket from his waist and looked away, while handing it to her.

"Here, take this." Light said and he felt a hand take the coat.

"It's not big enough," she whispered after a moment.

Light felt annoyed, that was rather irritating. Wait, there was something that was potentially her size. "Mello!" he yelled.

"Little busy now!" Mello shouted and he saw that they were struggling to cuff the Italian man.

"I need your bloody coat!" yelled Light, not opening his eyes. Thwack. Leather to the face, brilliant. He picked it off his face and handed it to Miranda without opening his eyes. It should fit her. It was huge on Mello, in any case.

He gave her a few moments before asking, "Decent now?"

"Yes." She whispered and Light turned around. She looked confused. "But you're just a kid."

"Kids can do a lot with the world." Light said. "Come on, let's get out of here." He said, holding out a hand. She looked hesitant and scared but Light smiled at her, comforting and naïve, and she took the hand and they slowly wobbled out of the house.

Matthews' car draws up outside the house as they make their way out, Light slowly encouraging the girl to step forward one step at a time. It's obvious that she hasn't eaten since yesterday and is weak and exhausted.

Linda spills out of the car and looks horrified. "Is she okay?" she asks as Miranda bursts into tears at seeing the sunlight.

"She'll be fine," Light said, and he wasn't lying. People had recovered from worse. And she had a family to help her to keep going and they'd found her very quickly.

Matthews quickly swept her into his police car and they took Miranda back to the Police Department, where her parents, friends and food would be waiting.

"It's over then." said Linda, looking quite relieved.

"Yes." Light said, "Not exactly a particularly difficult case, but it is good to know that she's safe. Perverts like him deserve to be locked up forever."

Linda looked so vulnerable. "I can't believe that he was a teacher. Don't people like that go on a register? Doesn't that mean that they can't go near children?"

Light shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't know."

Mello and Matt wrestled the Italian man out of the house, struggling with handcuffs. "Stay still you dirty old man! You're under arrest!" yelled Mello, hitting the man around the head with his fist.

"Mello." Light warned. Unrequired manhandling by the police could get them in serious trouble (not that they weren't already in trouble.)

"Chill," Matt said, rolling his eyes behind the orange goggles, "Not like we're going to get in the most trouble for this."

And with that, Matt knocked out the man with a quick jab to his pressure points. Mello looked annoyed. "Why the hell didn't you do that before?" Mello shouted.

Matt shrugged. "Because I enjoy watching you suffer?"

"Bastard." Mello muttered, pushing Matt as the unconscious man dropped onto the pavement.

The next police cars drew up outside the house and the policemen and women flooded the man and the kids. Light tuned most of it out, non-commitedly answering what he needed to. It worried him how cold he felt now. No real triumph to this victory. All he felt was empty. And it was strange. Hadn't he joined this to stop being bored all the time? And the emptiness, was it boredom?

"Hey asshole," said Matt as they got into the police car to be driven back, "Can I have my gameboy back now?"

Light wordlessly handed it over and Matt turned it back on and started playing again. Mello on the other hand stared at him. "Why are you sulking?" asked Mello.

"I'm not sulking," Light said feeling annoyed.

"You're sure acting like it." Mello said, lifting his eyebrow, with impressive control, for an eight year old.

"You sulk more than I do. What else would you call that temper tantrum when you got 90% on the laws of physics test last week?" taunted Light and Linda snorted as Mello crossed his arms and pouted.

"So what now?" Linda asked after a moment. "We potentially saved that girl's life."

Light shrugged. "Life goes on, I guess. We'll be called to the hearing for the guy, to give evidence against him. Then…. We keep doing tests, I guess. Keep doing stuff at Wammy's. S'what happened back in Japan."

Mello scowled. "Doesn't seem like enough."

"Tell me about it," Matt interjected, not looking up from his videogame, "I just want to go hit something else, hack something else, because that CCTV and the Police Database was pitifully easy,"

Light rolled his eyes. "Nothing at this level is going to be difficult for us. But we'll build our way up to the top."

Mello snorted. "You really think the government is going to come running for help to a bunch of kids?" he asked, as he fiddled with his rosary.

"They run towards someone unknown in name, face, voice or personality and pay him a ridiculous amount of money to solve their problems for them. What will hiring children do to them? Nothing. They won't care; all they care about is results." Light said, quite blankly.

Mello punched him, hard. "Ouch!" Light exclaimed, clutching his arm, "What the hell was that for?"

Mello rolled his eyes. "You were talking like Near. One albino brat is bad enough, we don't need another one."

Linda snorted and Light glared at her, feeling betrayed. "You know it's true, Light. Stop feeling depressed. We have a Greek test tomorrow anyway. Do you know your pronouns use yet? Cause I don't, so we'll need to use the library and some flashcards."

Light rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you. You had all week to study!"

Linda titled her head sideways and batted her eyelashes at him. "Please Light? I help you with the Art History stuff next week?"

Light scowled. "Fine. But we'd better use flashcards. And I get to control the difficulty."

Linda pouted. "You're a hard taskmaster."

"That's because you're a lazy git." Interjected Matt.

"And you aren't?" she retorted.

"Children, children." Mello superimposed, his voice sounding like Roger's. They all exchanged looks before bursting into fits of laughter. Light smiled; it was going to be okay.

**AN: Thanks for reading, please review! They make my day, honestly! I'll be updating a cover picture for the story soon, once I can draw Mello's hair and Matt's goggles, it'll be up, I'm promise. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The Heirs to a Spider's Web**

**Chapter 4**

**AN: Thanks for the feedback! Good to know that some people are enjoying this! I warn you, this is a whopper of a chapter, over 15,000 words, so…take your time, 'kay?**

Light narrowed his eyes as the metal contraptions were placed on the table of the nearly empty classroom. "You've got to be kidding me." He said, his voice flat and very annoyed.

"Nope." said Matt, looking annoyed from where he was balanced backwards on his chair. "Though I wish they were."

"Why are these lessons even necessary?" Light asked as Roger left the room for a moment.

"They'll be useful in later life." said Mello, smirking, as he took a few bites of chocolate. "Never know when you're going to get kidnapped after all. After all, some of us can't resist anything for their life." He threw a significant look towards Near who merely rapped the table that he was building a domino pathway on.

Light sighed, all he could think of how ridiculous this whole situation was.

"Think of it this way," said Matt, "If Houdini could do it, so can we."

Light nearly growled. "Must everything be a competition here?"

Matt smirked from where he was lounging. "We're Wammy's kids. We need the stimulation. Lord knows that if it weren't for the competition, I'd never get out of bed in the morning."

"You never get out of bed in the mornings anyway!" exclaimed Mello, "I have to tip you out of bed, to even get you to respond!"

Matt shrugged easily, flipping his auburn hair back. Mello swore, before kicking the legs underneath Matt's chair off the floor, causing him to have a painful collision with wood and carpet. "Fuck Mello!" Matt said, "There was no need for that!"

Mello smirked. "You were being an arsehole."

Light growled lowly. "Do you ever stop swearing? You're eight!" he asked, feeling irritable.

"Do you ever stop bitching about everything?" asked Matt, rolling his eyes. "Gods, you'd think you were a girl, the way you act."

Light rolled his eyes. "If calling me a girl is the best insult you can come up with, I'm severely unimpressed."

Matt stuck his tongue out at Light. Light merely leant back in his chair and shut his eyes. "Seriously?" he burst out after a moment, sitting upright, "Handcuffs?"

Near rolled his eyes and tipped the domino pile down. "Please stop making such a large fuss. It's quite irritating."

Light sighed. "It's just weird, okay? All of you lot grew up here, you only know this. In the real world, outside of the orphanage, this is just strange."

Mello looked up, as if praying for strength. "Look, strange is part of the deal. Honestly, if L hears this, I think he may just replace you with me or Near because you whine so much."

Light laughed, that was never happening. L knew Light was up to L's standards. They knew each other well, opponents in a little mind-game with each other. L was winning currently, but that was because Light had yet to make a move.

"Now then," said Watari, as he came back into the room. "The test with handcuffs shall begin. I shall lock you in these handcuffs. You have to rest of the day to get out of them in some way, sort or form."

Light grinned, this was different. He'd expected that they would try manoeuvring themselves out of the handcuffs as quickly as possible, not be given freedom to use any method to get them out. This was perfect; all he had to do was ask for some help… and well, the idea sure wouldn't occur to any of the others. Originality was almost determined with his plan. Light was a little curious as to the ideas of the others, but his plan was probably going to take him the whole day.

Watari came around, locking the handcuffs around everyone's wrists. They rested loosely on Light's wrists, heavier than he'd thought they'd be. Watari left the room with a nod and Light made to follow him.

"Where are you going?" asked Mello, looking confused.

Light grinned. "He didn't say we had to stay in here. Personally, I'd prefer to figure this out, outside. It's nice today, for a change. No rain."

Matt shuddered a little as he twisted his hands inside the handcuffs. "Easier to figure it out inside. Less insects and…sunlight."

"Done." came a clipped voice and the three of them swung around to look at Near, whose cuffs were off, though his wrists were bright red.

"What!" yelled Mello, looking absolutely furious. "How are you done already?!"

"It's a puzzle to be solved. There are limited ways to get out and one of them is achievable when you have a lithe figure." said Near, "The fact goes that I know that I'm thinner than all of you and I know the limits I can bend and squeeze my hands until they break."

Mello looked cheated, Matt looked incredulous and Light felt a sense of shock. He'd known that Near was good at this, but this good?

Near stood up, gathered the dominos and walked out of the room. Light raised his eyebrows and followed. "Hey Near," he called, "Well done!"

Near nodded. "Thank you, Light. What will you be doing to get rid of your handcuffs?"

Light grinned. "I'll ask for help."

Near looked vaguely amused. "I don't think that's what Wammy had in mind."

Light shrugged, nonchalantly. "He said in any way, sort or form. Personally, I think stealing the keys may work, or I'll ask someone to steal them for me."

Near's eyebrows rose a little. "Well then," he said "I wish you luck."

"Are you going back to lessons then?" asked Light as Near started to walk away.

"Yes." Near said, "What else is there to do?"

Light grinned. "You could help me."

Near turned around, a look of blank cautiousness etched on this face. "And why would I do that, Light?" His voice was filled with careful nuances and there was a spark in his eyes, asking Light to challenge him.

Light grinned easily. "Because it'll be interesting. And Lord knows, even you know the thrill of competition. Don't you want to beat Mello?"

Near's face hardened and he shook his head. "I think Psychology sounds more appealing."

Light sighed. That had been the wrong answer. Well, there was a first time for everything. "I'm sorry Near." He said quietly, before starting to walk away, "I just thought we could have some fun with this."

Near's shuffling gait stopped abruptly and Light smirked. In the bag. He hadn't thought that that would work, but well, there was a first time for everything. "Fun in what way?" asked Near's quiet voice.

"Tell me," Light said, feeling a smirk come on his face, "How do you feel about disrupting the entire orphanage's schedule?"

(X)

"…I don't think too much of your plans, Light." said Near, quite calmly in German, as they ran along the corridor, escaping the large mob of children with paint-balloons and powder bombs, who were currently chasing after them and each other.

"Shut up and run." Light said, replying in Russian as Elpheba rounded the corridor with a very large paint balloon clutched in her hands.

"Other direction!" Light said, turning around, never fully appreciating just how difficult it was to run in handcuffs until today. Goodness, he'd never ran slower in his life… scratch that, he had, but that was because Sayu and her friend had attached themselves to his legs.

Elpheba grinned and gave chase, throwing large paint bombs at them. Light dodged three but got hit by two, one splattering all over the side of his shirt and the other narrowly missing his head. Near was similarly inhibited, his usually white pyjamas now had a bright, blue powder impact running along the back.

"This was a bad plan, Light." Near said, in French, panting as they rounded another corner, in what seemed like an endless expanse of hallways. "I don't like it in the slightest."

"It was a great plan! I just didn't take into account that today was Holi and she'd been stockpiling, okay?" Light answered, this time in Afrikaans, a language that he had been trying to learn, simply because it sounded so different to most Asian and romantic based languages.

"Well, you should have." said Near, replying in kind, as they locked themselves into the playroom, panting in fear.

"I didn't exactly see you point out that fact when I told you my plan." said Light flatly, this time in Japanese.

Near shrugged. "I don't take Religious Studies or Cultural Societies."

Light almost screamed in frustration. "Neither do I!" he screeched, his voice reaching almost an octave higher.

Near then smirked and Light realised that he'd been played. Masterfully. "You're awful, Near." He said.

Linda mock-applauded from the corner and both of them started. "Linda?" Light asked and she waved the keys in their face.

"Nice distraction, I didn't expect that style of chaos from you. Getting in was easy with that rabble to keep Roger busy." She said and threw the keys towards Light. Light caught them and undid his handcuffs. "The language thing wasn't necessary though." She said, as she scratched at the paint stain on her dungarees.

Light shrugged. "Made it somewhat stimulating. Running and dodging is boring."

Linda grinned. "Remember, Elpheba wants Maths help next week. She hates getting dirty. You owe her lots for starting the Holi fight all over Wammy's."

Light pouted. "She hardly had to target us as well, did she? All I needed was for her to distract Roger with the fight, not come after us with paint!"

Linda grinned. "Made it more convincing though, didn't it?"

Near sunk to the ground and started to fiddle with his hair. "Light is just irked because his fitted white shirt is now pink and green."

Light scowled. "I'm just happy I wasn't wearing anything too expensive today. This only cost around 1800 yen, luckily."

Linda looked disgusted. "Even with the exchange rate, that isn't cheap, Light."

"It's cheap for shirts of this standard," Light said, "Not everyone can get away with wearing dungarees all day."

Linda stuck her tongue out and Light rolled his eyes at her. "Anyway, Roger's security is next to nul. His password was a challenge, but that surrounding item thing you said that Matt was talking about when hacking, was pretty useful. The password ended up being the date that the insect book on his desk was published. Strange, right?" she said, as she pulled out her sketchbook.

Light shrugged as he massaged his wrists. "I'm going back to the classroom to deposit my handcuffs. Do you think Mello's done it yet?"

Linda shook her head. "Nah, I doubt it. Last time I saw him, was when he was muttering about a Bunsen burner and a champagne cork. I can't even begin to describe how painful that's going to be."

Near snorted and Light smirked. "What about Matt?"

Linda grinned mischievously. "I doubt he can even tell the difference in his routine. I bet he went straight back to gaming. It's not like he actually cares about becoming L."

Light shook his head. "He seemed pretty confident that he could get them off. Something about challenges and stimuli being great for Wammy's kids."

Linda shrugged. "I dunno. Anyway, once you come back, I need help with science. How the hell do I summarise the concept of anergy and link it to the lymphocyte tolerance levels in our antibody system?"

Light rolled his eyes. "It's fairly simple. In exchange, you have to test me in German. I'm still fairly awful at the language."

Linda grinned. "Deal. Though, if you want German fluency, I'd suggest chatting with Mello. He's originally German, and he's still fluent. Just insult him in German and you'll have an entire conversation!"

Light laughed and walked out of the room, swinging the handcuffs around, feeling indomitably cheerful. Then he remembered that Elpheba was waiting. He was painfully reminded that Elpheba was waiting for him, with a paint-bomb to the stomach. Dreading the next shot, Light fled.

(X)

"I still can't believe that you did something that stupid," Light said, in German, as he walked next to Mello, who was massaging his broken wrist which was in cast, a week on from the incident.

"It would have worked if it hadn't been for Matt." Mello said, scowling.

"Sure, blame the minion." said Light, knowing that it would annoy both of them.

"Not a minion." Matt said also in German, not bothering to look up from his videogame.

"I'm not incompetent!" yelled Mello, looking very angry, his eye getting a tic.

"Sure you aren't." Light said again easily, getting ready to run. Since coming to Wammy's, he'd been doing a lot of running. He wasn't sure whether this was necessarily a good thing or a bad thing.

Instead, Light got clobbered by Mello's right hand, which, while wasn't Mello's dominant hand, was still very painful. Light gripped the fist as it made to hit him again and twisted it to the side sharply.

"You don't want two broken hands, do you?" asked Light dangerously.

Mello stood taller and Light frowned. The change between Mello the angry to Mello the dangerous was nearly seamless. It seemed a little too rehearsed to be natural.

"Can you give it a rest!" snapped Matt angrily as his videogame made sad dying noises. "You never fucking shut up! Always arguing, always bickering! I lost against the stupid, son-of-a-bitch boss and it's your fault! So shut up and suck it up! So you don't like each other! Deal with it!"

With that Matt stalked off leaving Matt and Mello staring at each other in a state of confusion. Mello's aggression had gone and Light's arrogance was down the drain.

"That was unexpected…." Light said, after a moment.

"That, wasn't supposed to happen." said Mello, scowling angrily at the floor.

Light ruffled his own hair, absentmindedly. "He has a point though. We've been arguing more than usual lately."

Mello rolled his eyes. "That's because you've started stalking me now."

Light looked affronted. "Don't compare me to L! I'm no stalker! I'm attempting to befriend you. You are making this very difficult."

"What if I don't want to be your fucking friend!?" yelled Mello.

Light merely raised his eyebrows. 'Then you are antisocial and have a severe problem that may end up in you being locked up in an asylum."

Mello pointed at Light triumphantly. "This proves it! You have a God complex larger than Jupiter!"

Light shrugged. "I know that I can be arrogant. I have been informed of this on several occasions. But don't you go pointing fingers, Mello. What about your chronically crippling case of untreated inferiority complex? The psychiatrist must first be declared sane himself, before diagnosing other patients."

"Not in Arkham Asylum!" Mello retorted as they made their way to Greek.

Light rolled his eyes. "We do not live in Gotham. Batman does not exist. In this world, there are laws that prevent insane psychiatrists, okay? You are not Jonathan Crane."

Mello looked at him oddly. "Since when do you read Marvel?"

Light sighed. "Since Linda took art history, and has been gushing about Stan Lee's contribution to crappy superhero stories."

"Ooh, Light swore!" Mello crowed and Light sighed.

"I expected more from you." Light said, shaking his head.

"That's your problem," Mello said, "You have unrealistic expectations of others. I have an unrealistic expectation of myself, which serves as a way of bettering myself and a way to muster up the strength to keep on trying. Your expectations of the world leave you crippled, because you want perfection in someone, which doesn't exist. You're alone simply because no one matches up to your expectations of reality, and that's the fact of the matter. Maybe try and change your own attitude to the world, before trying to change to world to suit your whims."

Mello stalked away into the Greek classroom, grumbling as he went, leaving Light in the corridor, staring at his hands, which for a millisecond, he'd seen covered in blood.

(X)

"Do I have unrealistic expectations of people, Near?" Light asked as he flicked through the verb conjugations that they needed to memorise for Greek.

"Depends on what you're expecting of them." Near said, monotonously, as he too scanned over verb conjugations. "Na yfístantai. What does it mean?"

"Pretty sure that it's 'to live'. No, wait. 'To exist'. The reason that Plato had so many different theories about human existence, and why we suffer through psychology." Light said absently, "And I don't think I expect much of people."

Near looked up, an eyebrow quirked in what might have been amusement. "Everyone's bias will cloud their opinions. For example, if Mello is asked to give a report about me, it will be negatively influenced, but if he is asked to give a report about Matt, it will be positively influenced. Everyone has a bias that clouds their opinion. How much of their opinion it clouds, depends on the individual."

Light frowned as he rapped the pen against his face. "Do I let my biases cloud my judgement?" he asked, twirling the pen around.

"A little yes. But even I do so. Now what exactly are your expectations of people? I do hope that normal is not one of them. Normality is rather difficult to achieve in this place."

Light snorted as he flicked a page. "Tell me about it. But what I do expect is that you be able to act normal. It's not that difficult."

Near gave Light a shrewd look. "Anyone here can act normal, we're born with secrets and lies on our tongues. The fact is, most of us here don't _want_ to act normal. Have you considered that? You think that I don't know that I'm abnormal? Of course I'm not normal, I know that most children aren't like me. Most children aren't like Mello, most children aren't like Matt and Linda and L himself. You can fake being like most children, but tell me Light, do you enjoy it?"

Light looked at Near. That…that hadn't really occurred to him. "No." Light said softly.

Near smirked. "Repeat that for me. I didn't quite catch it."

"No." Light said, a little louder this time. "No, I hated it. It was boring and dull. I couldn't relate to the things they found fascinating at all."

Near merely smirked and leant back in his chair. "Repeat that again."

Light rolled his eyes. "No need to rub it in, Near."

Near shrugged. "Na ypenthymísei?" he asked Light.

Light rolled his eyes. "Isn't it apt that that's the verb for 'to remind'? We did it in class, I don't know how you managed to forget."

Near shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention."

Light mock-gasped. "When did you replace Near, Matt? And why aren't you playing video-games?"

Near scoffed and they went back to flicking through the textbooks in silence.

(X)

Light walked out of his room on the second Sunday of May and was met by silence. Linda was standing at their usual place, but she was staring outside the window, seemingly not noticing Light.

"Linda?" Light asked, 'Why does the orphanage sound so quiet?"

Linda turned around and there were red blotches around her eyes. "It's Mother's Day, Light. Most people are mourning. No one goes to church. Not today."

And Light was struck with the harsh reality, that everyone here were orphans, that they'd never known the welcoming hand of a mother, with a warm cup of milk after school, nor the love of a proud father. The attention was only ever drawn to them when they excelled or misbehaved. The average children…were stagnant. And it pierced Light a little. The unfairness of it all.

Light pulled out his mobile phone as they descended down the stairs, with Linda's hand entwined in his as she leant on his shoulder. His arm was going numb, but he didn't complain. After all, he had a mother and father and none of the children here did.

Happy Mother's Day, Mum! Light texted. It would be around 3pm in Japan, so there was no doubt that she would receive it.

Sure enough as they rounded into the dining room, his phone buzzed and his mother's response appeared on the phone. Thank you Light! I hope that you have a good time wherever you are. We all love you and hope that you will call when you get the time! Sayu misses you greatly. From all of us. 

To Light's surprise, the dining room was fairly deserted. He saw Matt and Mello at one table and plonked himself down by them. Matt was playing his videogame with an unadulterated fury, the keys being jammed so violently that Light could hear them protesting. Mello on the other hand was clutching his rosary like it was a lifeline and muttering in a language that Light couldn't identify at the speed that Mello was chanting.

"Good…morning?" Light asked, feeling a little out of place from the misery emanating from all three.

"It's not fucking good, Light. It's the worst day invented by mankind." said Matt darkly as the videogame made sad whorping sounds of a lost game. "Screw this."

Mello glared at Matt, but didn't stop mouthing whatever he was saying under his breath. Light frowned and lipread what he was saying.

_Gegrüßet seist du, Maria, voll der Gnade, der Herr ist mit dir._ Light haltingly translated the German in his brain. _Hail Mary, filled?…no, full of grace. The Man…no, Lord is with you. Thee. Thee, most definitely thee. _

_Du bist gebenedeit unter den Frauen, und gebenedeit ist die Frucht deines Leibes, Jesus. _Light sighed, this was, following what little he knew of Christianity, a prayer. Why was Mello praying like his life depended on it? _Blessed are you, no, art thou, amongst women, and blessed is the…fruit? Fruit, of your…thy womb, Jesus._

_Heilige Maria,__Mutter Gottes,__bitte für uns Sünder jetzt und in der Stunde__unseres Todes.__Amen__. _Light translated the last bit with ease. _Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death, Amen. _

Light growled, this was intolerable. Linda now sniffed against his side and Matt threw his gameboy on the table and Light stood up angrily. "This is pathetic!" he shouted. Linda looked insulted, Mello looked apoplectic and Matt just glowered at the table.

"What are you on about, Light?" she asked, sounding desperate.

"I am on about how you're all wallowing. Do you really think that your parents would want this?" Light asked. Linda glared at him, Mello looked discomfited but Matt snorted and looked up.

"Yes." He said, "My mother delighted in making sure my life was living hell. She'd laugh at the misery." He said matter-of-factly, flipping his auburn hair out of his face, rubbing at the place where his orange goggles touched his nose.

Light almost slapped him there and then, but refrained. But really, that really wasn't the message he needed to get across now. Couldn't Matt, with all of his smarts, see that? He contented himself with rolling his eyes and gripping the table. "Listen," Light said, "This is unacceptable. I can't take the misery anymore. We are sorting this out right now."

Mello now looked utterly confused, as he paused in the middle of one of his frantic prayers. "Huh?" he whispered, his voice sounding ragged.

"Spread the word. Everyone meets in the living room in an hour. We're sorting this all out, even if it means missing lessons." Light said, grabbing the last slice of toast from the table with him, leaving the three miserable people behind him, looking speechless.

"Oh," and Light said, stopping before he left the room, 'Tell them to bring some hot chocolate."

(X)

Linda was one of the first ones into the living room. She clutched her sketchbook like a lifeline and the steaming cup of hot cocoa filled the room with a tasty aroma. "Light," she said, settling down next to him, "Please tell me you know what you're doing. You have parents. The rest of us don't." she said, looking annoyed.

"I know, Linda," Light said, pulling a face, "I'm not heartless and I'm not here to gloat. I'm here to make this less painful for everyone involved."

Linda looked at him for a moment, her gaze reading over him. "Yourself included?" she stated.

Light's mouth twitched. "What other motive does a human ever harbour than for the bettering of their own life?"

Linda rolled her eyes and took a sip from her cup. "Fine, fine, you've made your point. This better be good."

Light smirked and leant back against the soft couch. "You just wait and see."

The little kids trailed in slowly after; Jason with his pudding haircut and thick glasses, Cindy with her pigtails, Emma who was never seen without her teddybear and Johnny who seemed to emanate confidence on every day that wasn't today. Child after child trailed in, clutching books, cups or other such trivialities as they came into the room with hesitance. None however, came alone. All needed the support of someone else to even come in.

Light noticed the absence of a few. Elpheba had evidently closeted herself away for she was conspicuously absent. Near had been dragged down by Light, but he looked very reluctantly seated next to Linda and Jason and Timothy had not arrived. Others whom Light had seen around the school, though not necessarily stuck a conversation with, were also missing and Light felt those absences were necessary. Hopefully what he would do now would spread.

"I think that this is the most we're going to get," said Light standing up as Matt and Mello finally edged in to grab a seat near the doorway. "So I'll start. Thank you for coming here today. I'm sure that you all wanted to grieve alone, but…I've always found that grieving alone leads to less than comfortable consequences."

Light took care to modulate his tone to be as comforting and as soft as possible, while still carrying to every person who was seated there. He leant forwards, kept eye contact on his audience and smiled sadly, just to get their trust. "It's Mother's Day today, as I'm sure that you are all aware. But, I look around, and I see only grief on a day meant to be joyous. I ask you," Here, Light paused and met the gaze of every person who was paying attention.

"Would they have wanted this? Would your parents, who loved you, who wanted nothing more than the best, even if their efforts were misguided, would they have wanted you to cry and wallow all day?"

The children were silent. Here was silence, which was odd and it unnerved Light just a little, that all of their gazes were solely on him. He shifted a little and cleared his throat. "Well, would they have?"

"No," said Emma, clutching her bear tighter, "Mummy hated it when I cried."

"My daddy said that I was a wimp when I cried," muttered a boy with brown hair and big brown eyes, that Light didn't know.

This seemed to open up a flood of no's with reasons from all of the younger children and less reserved. Light let them talk it out before raising his hands a little. To his surprise, they quieted down when he did this. This was new.

"That's right. Today is supposed to be a celebration." Light said calmly and smoothly. But a child on the front row scowled.

"But they aren't here anymore! How do we celebrate the fact that they exist?! I can't say thank you to Mummy, because she's in Witness Protection!" he said, his voice trembling. Light silently thanked the kid, this was just the lead in he'd wanted. However, the entire room had erupted again and it took Light a lot longer to get the calm he needed.

"What's your name, kid?" Light asked.

"Randy." Said the boy, crossing his arms.

Light smiled. "Thank you, Randy. You made a valid point. How do we say thank you to our departed parents? Be they dead, missing or in other circumstances, they aren't here anymore. How can we thank them?"

Everyone looked confused. But Light leant forward and smiled as gently as possible. "I know how we can thank them. We remember them. We remember them and we honour their memory. And I wanted to do this by sharing a little about them. Their names don't have to be the same and you don't have to share. But, I know from experience, that talking about these problems make you feel better."

Light didn't know this, of course, having never been placed in such a solution, but he'd read about it in several psychology books that he'd used in his studies. He was sure that some of the older kids, in the running for taking L's place would realize what he was doing, but he was confident in the ignorance of the others.

There was a deep and permeating silence that filled the room now. Light's throat felt very dry and he licked his lips, trying his hardest to not portray just how nervous he was about this particular gambit. "My parents were some of the nicest people you'd ever meet. My dad i-was head of the Police Force in Japan and my mum was a stay at home mother, but she had a degree in English Literature and had studied at Oxford as a kid. I had a sister as well, her name was Sayu. She was the typical younger sister; annoying, dumb, silly and so very adorable."

Light was getting quite a few glares from some girls but most of the people were enraptured. "I remember that my dad was barely ever home, because of his work, but one thing we always used to do together was tennis on Sundays. My dad and I used to go to the courts at my school and we used to play for hours. I used to be really bad, but he was so patient and he didn't seem to care how many times I failed, because I kept getting back up to try again. He's the reason that I was the tennis elementary champion."

Some of the younger children leant forward. "What was your mum like?" asked Eli, a young Jewish boy, aged around 4. "You see, I can't remember mine."

"My mum was everything you wanted from a mum. She was patient, she was kind, she was supportive. She always used to bake my favourite foods, so whenever I came home, I could get a snack and be happy about it. She always used to read me stories when I went to bed and sing for me as well. Her voice wasn't the prettiest or the most experienced, but it was one of the best voices I'd ever heard." Light said as he remembered the late nights that he'd slept due to his many successes and how she'd always been there. "She used to sing me English songs and Japanese songs. Traditional ones, never the pop songs from now, but the ancient songs, rooted in mythology. Sayu hated them with a vengeance, but I always loved them."

And if Light was honest, he missed his family a little. He missed their simple pleasures, the way they'd accept him without him having to manipulate their emotions or try at all. He missed the little things they used to do for him and he missed the polite dinner table conversations, even if they had been so forced on some days.

"And Sayu was like a bright star. She always used to complain about everything and she was spoilt, spoilt spoilt!" Light exclaimed and some of the younger children giggled as he poked one of the sleepier children in the sides, making him jump with alarm.

"Are you sure you aren't letting your prejudices influence your opinion there, Light?" asked Linda, her grin infectiously wide.

"I'm sure! She got everything she ever wanted from everyone. My sweets, my homework, my attention, my ice-cream, my books. She was spoilt, but the sweet kind of spoilt, not the bratty kind. Trust me, if she was the bratty kind, I would have probably have shoved her out of a window, or stolen her sweets or something like that." Light said, filling his voice with emotion as he pictured her bright, chubby face.

Nearly everyone was laughing now, only Mello, Matt and Near were silent. "How did they die?" asked one of the blonde girls near the front, who looked like she'd been crying for a long time.

Light drew up a blank, this he hadn't planned for. Which in hindsight, was a rather pathetic oversight. "It was sometime in the night. My dad and his team had put away a drug syndicate for good, but there'd been complications. My dad's cover had been blown on his mission part and they knew his name. I was at a friend's house that night, so I didn't see it, but they said that the drug people had a couple people left. They were arrested, but…but not before they'd burnt the house and the residents inside it, down to the ground."

His mind was screaming about how completely unrealistic this all was, but Light forced it to shut up. Most of them seemed to believe it anyway, apart from Linda who knew the truth and Near who was throwing Light a sharp gaze.

"Oh no!" said Cindy as she burst into tears, "So sad!" She lapsed into Gaelic, a language Light could only recognize, much to his chagrin. Languages were important tools in what he planned to do to the world.

Light suppressed a groan as she started nearly all of the younger children into tears. This was not going to plan. "Please stop." Light said, unable to suppress the annoyance in his voice. "It was a long time ago, and my mother would never have wanted anyone to cry over what happened."

"Does that mean you didn't cry when she died?" asked Johnny, looking horrified.

Light shook his head. "No, I didn't. None of them would have wanted that. Life is to live, not to wallow in. They died. So what? Everyone died eventually. Fact of life. Their lives were ended prematurely, and that was sad, but I refuse to ruin mine for them."

Many of the children were looking at Light with strange expressions on their face. "The feeling would have been mutual. If I had died instead, I wouldn't want them to wallow and stay depressed. I'd want them to move on and be successful for me. They're parents. They'll want that for you as well."

Linda stepped in here. "I agree. I can't remember my mum, she disappeared when I was a kid, but I remember my dad. He was great! He was a historian and he used to work at Windsor Castle and he always used to take me with him to work. I remember, we used to spend hours down in the archives. He was in charge of cataloguing stuff there and he was one of the lucky ones who was allowed inside the Round Tower! I wasn't allowed in there of course, but I spent hours in the royal archives! Some of my earliest memories of him teaching me things inside there. I knew the names of all of the British kings and Queens, before I even knew how to walk."

Light leant back and sipped from his hot cocoa as Linda continued to talk. "He was really awful at cooking though, so we usually ended up eating at my neighbour's house. She was really nice and my dad used to pay her money for the meals, because he felt that accepting all those meals without any sort of payment was too atrocious for words. She was the one who got me interested in art, because she was a photographer at a local photo company. I used to help her with composition of portraits and things. It was one of my favourite things to do."

She paused for a minute. "Once, I got really lost inside Windsor Castle. It was quite amusing really, somehow, I'd managed to get inside Prince Charles's personal rooms! I was so distressed once he walked in, because one of the major rules of being around was not to be seen by the Royal Family, for obvious reasons! Luckily, he was very decent about it all, he just asked that I be kept out of that part of Windsor castle from then on. He's pretty decent with kids!"

Light chuckled a little, along with the rest of the room. Really, that was very typical. Other children were now clamouring to tell their stories and Light pointed towards one of them and she started the story about her mum and dad and how they'd always take her to the theme park every Saturday. The time passed as more and more children told their stories. Sometimes tears were shed, but they were stopped quickly by the whole room and another funny or bittersweet tale. No more tales of death were told; instead, funny or insignificant little daily routines, little details about children and people that Light filed away for something that would be useful for later.

Near, Matt and Mello didn't contribute, but then, Light hadn't really been expecting them to. He'd just wanted them to acknowledge that fact that keeping it all bottled up wouldn't help at all. Maybe they'd tell him or each other later. Maybe.

Light had been right about running into lesson time, but frankly, Light was sure that no one would begrudge them this. He was aware that Roger had attempted to come in and get everyone to go to lessons; this fact had been apparent by the frozen positions of Matt and Mello, but Roger had never actually come in, leading to the idea that he had either been too overwhelmed or had known that it would be of no use.

They finally finished when no one had any stories left to tell. "That it, then?" asked Light and most people nodded. "Okay. Thank you everybody. I think it's a little late to go to afternoon lessons, but do try to attend evening lessons. Our teachers will be a little annoyed if we miss everything, after all."

A chuckle rippled through the kids and they all looked a lot more alive than when he'd seen them this morning. "Now, I hope that everyone understands each other a little better now. Good day." Light said, smiling as much as possible and the room emptied rapidly, possibly to enjoy the hour or so of sunlight.

Matt and Mello were waiting outside the door for him. Mello had stopped praying, though he was still fidgeting with his rosary, a frown on his usually impassive face. "Impressive session, Lucifer. Another way to make your way to the top? You now know all of the personal stories of the children of the orphanage and can use that to exploit them into obeying you when it comes to later on in their lives."

Light twitched a little, Mello really knew how to get under his skin. He really was quite argumentative. And still refused to call Light by his real name. "I was trying to help. Didn't you see how much happier everyone is now. And if you were paying attention, I shared and cared as well. If I'd kept to myself and didn't say anything about family, your little spiel about my power could be considered, but everyone has information on me now." Light said, as civilly as his anger would allow him to.

Mello sneered. "Obviously false. You were lying the whole way through. You wouldn't just reveal that to everyone."

Light smirked, that was a flawed argument in itself and Mello should have known it. "Well, all of them could have been lying. How do I know that what they said was the truth? It's a flawed premise Mello, one I'd suggest you'd refrain from using."

Mello scowled now and Light made to walk away. He wanted to go over the criminal psychology books that had been on the psychology recommended reading list with Near. "Yes, well that was hardly what I was aiming to get out of you anyway. You didn't deny that you were lying."

Light stopped in his tracks. Shit. "You were lying, weren't you?" Mello asked again, his voice sounding inexplicably smug.

Light quickly recalculated his ideas of what he would reveal to people. "Partially. The best lies are mixed with the truth after all." He said, keeping his voice impassive. "Can you guess which part? I'll be very impressed if you can."

Light hoped that his appeal to Mello's pride would pacify him. "Obviously the spiel about your parents' death. They must have actually been like how you said they were. I doubt you'd reveal about how they affected your life though, so the story about the tennis isn't true either. Your parents didn't die like you said they died."

Light almost let his facial features reveal his shock. Almost. He'd been underestimating Mello's deductive skills. Damn, that was brilliantly and quickly figured out as well. Either Light had been very transparent, or Mello was very, very good. "Well done." Light said, making his voice light and amused as he turned around. "Nice work. However did you manage it?"

Mello smirked. "Obvious. The moment you mentioned your parents' death, Near turned towards you with suspicion written all over his face. Linda wasn't too great at hiding her emotions either, though she was marginally better about it, which means that she knows what actually happened to your parents, while Near figured out from your body language cues that you were lying. And the tennis thing was easy to figure out."

Light relaxed a little. Mello was good, but not as good as Light had thought. The one thing that Mello had actually deduced from Light's fallacies had been false. He'd been foiled by Linda and Near. Dammit. "Well then, very impressive. Though, I wasn't aware that you were watching Near throughout the whole meeting. I wasn't under the impression that your stalkerism went quite that far." Nothing like a bit of innocent name-calling to make Light feel better. And Mello's rapidly reddening face was priceless.

"I AM NOT STALKING NEAR!" screamed Mello.

Light merely shook his hair out of his face, turned away and kept walking. He did wonder how Matt managed to entirely tune out these conversations some days; that was some sheer skill. Even Watari was unable to stop his laughter when it came to petty name-calling.

(X)

There were days that Light hated the fact that he couldn't be perfect in everything. Today was one of those days. They had just finished the physical activity part of Wammy's curriculum. And, don't get him wrong, Light was a healthy young man with slender figure and no extra fat anywhere. He was the perfect specimen of healthy. But he wasn't muscular and he wasn't ridiculously athletic. Not in the way that Mello was.

"Haha, that was so easy!" Mello was chuckling over with a group of other boys that were close to his age. Light had just been soundly thrashed at a bout of fencing against Mello. Light felt his hand grip tightly around the foil and he could feel his nails digging into his palm. He hated losing.

Near was finishing up with the karate match against Johnny. He was surprisingly deft at this, though, not up to the standards of a professional. It wouldn't be enough if he got captured. Which was probably why, Light mused, he was so deft with getting out of handcuffs.

"Hey Light, are you going to get changed now?" asked Hobbit, a boy who was five and revered J.R.R Tolkien's work like it was his deity.

"Yeah, I'm pretty much done anyway." Light said, keeping his voice even. He'd won every other match against everybody else and he'd beaten the junior tennis record for fastest game played, but that didn't matter, because he hadn't won everything. Not like Mello. He hated somedays, how the system here at Wammy's worked. Of course, it worked to his advantage in other subjects, and Light really shouldn't be this subjective, but he was. He wanted to be the best, wanted to be perfect.

Maybe he did have unrealistic expectations of himself. "You aren't going to play footie with us Light?" asked Jason, who had just finished his archery stuff.

Light shook his head. "Nah, I want to get some other stuff done." He said, lying easily.

"Suit yourself!" Jason said, before he too went to go congregate around Mello. Funny, how the fear that was usually present towards Mello, vanished, when Mello was the winner. Human psychology and loyalty was so fickle.

Light headed out of the male gym, towards the changing rooms. He passed Linda and Elpheba who was happily chatting about how they'd dominated in doubles tennis. "Hey Light!" Linda called, looking excited, "How'd the physical evaluation go?"

"Not bad," Light answered, "I beat the junior record for fastest game played in tennis."

Elpheba looked amazed. "Oh my goodness Light, really? Wow, you're amazing!"

Light chuckled a little. "Thank you, Elpheba. I'm going to get changed now, so…bye."

"Bye!" Elpheba said cheerfully, but Linda was staring at him and Light beamed at her, urging her to go away. She turned and walked away, but her gaze kept darting back towards Light. Typical.

He got changed into his usual tailored shirt and jacket before skulking back to the orphanage. His laptop was waiting in his bag and Light takes it out and turns it on as he makes his way to the study room. It should be empty, currently, it is the school's afternoon break, where everybody liked to go and relax before they got onto homework or any other studious thing they needed to finish.

The room was not empty. Matt was staring out the window at the football game that was starting, surprisingly, without any kind of other distraction. "Hello Matt." Light said, as he seated himself on the table opposite Matt.

Matt does not even look away from the football game. "Good afternoon, Light. You aren't playing today?"

Light knows how to take advantage of opportunities. He's always considered Matt in a high esteem; someone who was loyal and clever at the same time, and someone who was not affected by any of the competitive spirit at Wammy's? Someone like Matt would be useful in Light's arsenal if he wanted to surpass L. Of course, Matt was loyal to Mello, but things like that were easily changed. Human loyalties are fickle, after all.

"No," Light says, dragging his computer up, "I wanted to get some hacking done today. Coding is all very well, but hacking is more useful in our lifestyle."

"Mmm," Matt said, perking up a little. "What are you attempting to break into?"

Light grins sheepishly. "Fort Knox. I would hack into some police databases, but they're all pretty similar. Once you've hacked into one, you've cracked them all. You need the same tricks over and over. Boring. Like football in a way. I don't get why you're watching the game. I thought you hated sport? You did skip out of the physical evaluation today."

Matt snorted. "I do hate sport. But Mello doesn't stop talking about the game and his victories and defeats, and I prefer to know what the hell he's on about. I mean, he takes the time to listen to my video game rants, so the least I can do is pay attention here."

Light nodded. "Doesn't mean you can't do what you enjoy as well. I've got a DS in my bag actually; you can play if you like."

Matt looked tempted, but shook his head. "Nah," he said, "I think I'll pass."

Astounding, the loyalty that Matt has for Mello. Simply astounding. This was going to take some more effort than Light had originally planned. "If you're sure." Light said shrugging; making it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

There was a silence in the room, before Matt spoke up. "If you really want a challenge, I wouldn't try Fort Knox's security. That's been hacked so many times; you can just duck under a pre-existing hole created by another hacker. A real challenge is Zurich."

"Zurich?" asked Light, "As in, the Swiss bank?"

Matt nodded, looking fervent. "Say what you will about the Swiss," he said, "But their coding is superb."

Light felt his mouth twitch. "So both you and Mello love Switzerland. Mello for the chocolate and you for the coding. How coincidental." How annoying, more like. How close were they, anyway?

Matt chuckled. "I suppose so. Swiss coding is amazing, though. What I'd give to have a peek at Indrid Bvorzok's coding. I'd be in heaven, there and then. I could hack anything in the world if I can reverse-manufacture his coding. It's the best in the world, nearly unbreakable. But, if I could just peek at it…." He drifted off into reminiscing and Light happily left him to it.

Matt had been right, Zurich's firewalls were tough. His fingers could barely reach the pace they needed to go to complete the coding in the time that he firewalls gave him before they ejected him out, harshly, blocking his stolen IP address.

"Bloody hell, what did I do wrong that time?" growled Light, as he bounced off their servers for the fifth time, with a sixth different IP address.

"You missed out a semicolon in Line 41," said Matt, looking bored.

Light looked at him for a moment. "Can we switch positions?" he asked after a while. "You hack it for me and give me the code, and I'll watch the game for you and give you the highlights. Mello's team will win anyway, they always do. Just in different ways."

Matt actually genuinely laughed at that. "You wish I'd let you look at my code. Puh-lease, I'm not falling for that. Though, it does sound tempting."

Light grinned. "Anything would sound more appealing than football to you. And it was worth a shot!"

Matt smiled. "You're funny. I like you. Why'd you have to be so bloody antagonistic to Mels anyway?"

Light shrugged. "We're not compatible. He's too competitive and can't take a joke. I'm too much of a perfectionist and I make fun of people on a regular basis, usually through sarcasm, which he can't deal with. We rub each other the wrong ways."

Matt scowled. "That's bullshit and you know it."

Light sighed. "The truth is, Mello can't stand being second-best. I'm the best and Near's better than him. So he can't stand us. I wouldn't mind being friends with him," Blatant lie there, "But, it wouldn't happen, because as long as I'm the best, he'll hate me."

Matt nodded, looking pensive. There was another moment of silence and Light finally broke down Zurich's firewalls. They were a very rich bank. Light was impressed. "I'd watch out if I were you." Matt said, after a while, "Mello's been very smug all day. I have no doubt that something is planned to happen to you today."

Light smiled. "Thanks for the hint Matt. I'm sure I'll be fine."

(X)

Screw fine, Light was not fine in the slightest. How he had dropped to second in the rankings and Mello had moved up to first, he didn't know, but what it was, was a setback.

Dammit! Light merely smiled thinly as he read the rankings on their floor and stalked down the stairs, much to the concern of Linda. He could feel her gaze as she hurried down after him.

"Light, where are you going?" she asked.

"Out." He said shortly, unable to quite make himself the polite person he'd been acting as in his time here.

"Light. You can't leave the grounds without someone else to accompany you." She said, looking concerned, her brown eyes widened.

Light shot her a look. "I wasn't planning on leaving. I need to clear my head. The fresh air should do that for me."

She threw him a pitying glance and Light rolled his eyes and increased his pace. The last thing he needed was her pity. He was going to get his place as first back, by sheer determinations or by other means, if necessary. To his relief, she stopped following him, leaving him to peacefully walk outside.

The cool air really was rejuvenating. It was late evening and there was a chill breeze in the air. The bushes and plants swayed in the breeze, sending whispers and messages across the empty grounds. It was really quite peaceful. Light felt himself smile, despite himself. He sighed and his tension started to fade.

As he slowed down, a thought occurred to him. Matt had said that Mello had been particularly smug all day, but he can't have seen the rankings ahead of time. That was impossible. Roger was always so careful with them, and Light had tried before. Everyone who'd attempted had been caught and sufficiently punished. So how had Mello known that he'd beaten out Near and Light?

Light frowned and stuck his hands in his pockets. He could only surmise that somehow Mello had somehow managed to see the records beforehand. It wasn't by computer, because otherwise, he would have employed Matt to do it for him, so Mello had definitely seen a hard copy. But Roger didn't print them out until the last minute, right?

Light frowned; he really didn't know how Mello had done it. Unless he'd been so confident in his abilities of sport that he'd known that he'd beat Light….that wasn't right either. Light may not have won the fencing match, but he'd put his hardest effort in and he'd very nearly disarmed Mello at one point. Also, Mello's inferiority complex wouldn't let Mello assume that, without hard proof. No, Mello's grade had to been guaranteed. But….surely not….because there was only way for Mello to be completely sure that his grades would be higher than Light's and Near's…..

Light frowned and plopped himself down by the lake. Frankly, he didn't want to think along those lines. He liked Mello, despite himself. They would never get along, but he did like the boy. Not that Light would ever consider Mello a friend either, just a talented acquaintance. Linda was friend, even cold, emotionless Near was a friend to Light. However, Light in comparison to Matt and Mello would probably never be more than acquaintances. Which was a shame; really, they would be very useful and active minions to have.

Light felt himself trail his fingertips through the water. It left ripples in the surface that spread out, around the edges of the pool. It made Light think of a particular rationality they had been studying; the Butterfly Effect discussed in most time travel. How even in a single event's happenings changing, would form an entirely different world. That of course linked to the Alternate Universe theory, explored in the experiment of Schrödinger's Cat, which was one of the basic quantum mechanics principles, that Light found a little confusing, if he was honest with himself. Because really, in the same dimension, the cat could not be both dead and alive.

The sun's rays were warm against his skin and Light lost himself in the peaceful sensations of the cool breeze. But even he couldn't ignore the heavy footsteps behind him.

"I'll steal food from the kitchen later Linda, I'm not particularly hungry," Light said lazily, without opening his eyes.

"You think that you'd be able to tell the difference between your friend and your rival." said Mello's wry voice and Light almost groaned. He'd almost escaped the sheer frustration of the situation, and now, it was doubtful he would ever calm down. Though, he was temperate enough to fake a semblance of calm.

"To be frank, your footsteps are feminine enough to be Linda's. And I was a little pre-occupied." Light said, keeping his voice serene and warm.

He could hear Mello gnash his teeth, and Light felt very, very satisfied. He loved how easy it was to take out temper by petty insults. "Well, feminine or not, I still beat you." Mello hissed and Light sighed. A gloating session, brilliant.

"Did you spin this spiel to Near as well? I bet he point-blank ignored you." Light said easily and Mello growled.

"Are you some emotionless freak?" asked Mello, "You never react to anything!"

Light stood up and turned around. As he'd thought, Mello was wearing his leather jacket and large knee high leather boots. How he'd managed to get them was questionable, but Light was sure that it involved mob connections. "It's called control. It's why I'm better than you." Light said, making sure to keep his voice as patronizing as possible.

Mello looked furious but to Light's surprise, instead of exploding like Light had expected, he breathed deeply and smiled. It was a cold, terrible smile and Light almost felt himself shudder. It was the smile of a criminal, the smile of the Lapland Glacier as he killed 20 people at once and Light did not feel it suited the face of an eight year old. Just then, Light wondered what Mello had gone through as a child, for an expression like that to even exist.

"So, control? I can see why you like it. It's different." Mello said, the terrible smile, not once leaving his face.

"Course. Too much can cripple you though. Moderation of everything is key." Light said playfully, as if he were teasing Linda, instead of facing off Mello. The cool night air was suddenly colder.

"How can you live with yourself, day in and day out, like this?" asked Mello after a while, "Keeping up your little mask of perfection?"

Light didn't answer. "Can't we remain the way we were before? I think I preferred our little uneasy truce to this outright hostility. It is tiring and pointless."

Mello smirked. "Do I win then?"

Light shook his head. "No. Because this contest between us never existed. You were never a player and neither was I." Most of this statement was a complete lie.

"Liar." Mello said, and the word hung between them, accusatory and harsh.

"Perhaps. Isn't everyone here?" Light said coolly.

Mello smirked. "I don't lie."

Light looked at him. "Don't you? Well now, what's your name?"

Mello outrightly laughed at this. "Please, I said that I don't lie, not that I was obligated to answer your questions."

Light grinned easily. "Worth a shot. I was kind of hoping that you were secretly stupid."

Mello's face turned dark. "Secretly…. stupid?"

Light inwardly swore, that was a mistake. It had been a long time since Light had made a mistake with interactions with people, but today seemed to be a day of failure.

"SECRETLY STUPID!?" yelled Mello and his fists clenched. Light saw the body motion happening and ducked fluidly as Mello made the attempt to punch. With that, Light threw his leg out, pushing Mello down with a neat roundhouse kick to the stomach.

After this, Light started walking back to the orphanage. He didn't need to get into an unnecessary fight. Violence was one of the more tawdry things in life.

There were footsteps behind him and Light turned around just a little too late as Mello's leather boot impacted firmly with his ribs and he arched back and fell into the lake with a resounding splash.

The water was warm enough, presumably heated by the rays of the day but it was filthy and Light could feel the mud clinging to his skin. His ribs ached and Light had barely had the time to grab a breath. He attempted to swim back up to the surface but his clothes had absorbed the water to their full capacity and now Light was near the bottom of the lake, with his vision clouded by the acrid stinging of the water in his eyes.

Light immediately started disrobing as he sunk. The lighter he was, the easier it would be to get to the surface. His coat and jacket immediately came off and his shoes and socks came off next. Light now started attempted to swim back up to the surface, but it was slow progress and Light could feel the lactic acid building up inside his body as his oxygen supply started to run out.

Light forced himself to not panic, for that would lose him the energy that he needed to get back to the surface. He hadn't ever been aware that the Lake was this deep. Then, to Light's dull surprise, there was a splash and above him, was a Mello, who was wearing only his jeans as he grabbed Light and pulled them both up to the surface.

Gratefully, Light gasped as the oxygen filled his lungs. He freed himself of Mello's tight grip and started to tread water. Mello grabbed his wrist and pulled Light towards the shore, where Light panted as he knelt on the mud. He was sure that he looked a mess, but Light was merely grateful that he could breathe again. Light brushed the dirty, sopping wet hair out of his face and looked up as an equally dripping wet Mello put his black shirt and leather jacket back on in imperceptible silence.

"There was no reason for you to save me. I would have surfaced eventually. But either way, thank you." Light said, keeping his voice level, even as his anger rose. Mello had kicked him into this position and now, some of his very expensive clothing was lying at the bottom of the Lake.

"You didn't surface after a minute. I thought you were drowning." Said Mello fiercely, looking annoyed.

Light stood up and brushed down his dripping wet clothes. "Wouldn't it have been in your interests, had I drowned? You would have been second or first permanently."

Mello looked angry. "Is that what you think of me? That I'd be happy if that happened? I don't want anyone to die!"

Light raised an eyebrow, attempting to conceal the shivers that started as a cold wind blew past them. "A silly thing to say, Mello, 100% of humans die. That's one thing we cannot escape."

Mello scowled. "You know what I meant."

Light nodded. "Yes, I did." He did a quick catalogue of his clothing. His trousers were permanently ruined; the mud would never come out. His shirt would need some starch to make it quite as stiff as it had been before, but the whiteness would be easily re-achieved. Unfortunately, his lovely Italian loafer shoes were currently resting at the bottom of the lake, along with his expensive blazer and woolen coat. "Dammit." He said, feeling annoyed, as he registered that his toes were now ice-cold and resting on the mud, getting increasingly dirty.

Mello now looked amused. 'This is the first time I've ever seen you uncomposed." He said, hiding a snicker.

Light smiled thinly. "Considering that you just pushed me into the Lake and I nearly drowned, yes, I would say that I'm pretty disheveled at the moment. Excuse me. Not like you're in much of a better state."

Mello just smirked and Light rolled his eyes and made the long journey back to the orphanage. He had though Mello beyond such things, but now, he was convinced of exactly how Mello had achieved first place. "Tell me, because I wasn't exactly sure," Light said as they passed the garden's flowers, "How exactly did you managed to threaten the teachers to place you as first this week?"

Mello threw him a look and Light was impressed by his acting. If Light didn't know Mello, he would have been fooled. "What are you on about, you nutter?" he asked. Ooh, his speech gave him away though. A little too indignant to be quite true.

"You know what I'm on about. You got too smug, too early. I didn't understand why, earlier on in the day, but in hindsight, I can see it very clearly." Light, his voice as tight as he could manage.

Mello laughed. "Did you even consider that I just beat you?"

Light shook his head. "Too sudden for that. If you overtaken Near and then gradually beat me, then it would have been a natural succession and obviously you'd won it honestly. But this was too quick, too sudden, with no reason for the dramatic change. Even with the physical test taken into consideration; that only contributes to 40% of the grade. You may have beaten out Near naturally, but not me. Unlike Near, I can actually use my strength to my advantage. This was an un-natural succession. So, how did you do it?"

Mello scowled. "You bastard. Did you honestly think I would cheat? I'm not an idiot. It's not a victory over you and Near if I cheat. I worked really hard for the geography test and Mr. Shelton held me behind yesterday to tell me that I was placing first in his class. That's how I fucking knew that I would be the first on the leaderboard. Did you even consider that, you son of a bitch?"

Light rolled his eyes. "I do wish you wouldn't insult my mother in there. She was a kind woman and honourable. If you're going to impugn my honour, only impugn mine, and not hers. And in answer to your question, I'm really not quite sure to what depths you'd go to anymore. You almost drowned me then saved my from drowning, yet you came out here to gloat and none of your actions make sense anymore, so no, I didn't know what you were capable of." Light was aware that he was starting ramble by the end of it, but he was now annoyed. He wasn't doing anything correct today.

Mello stared at him as they approached the front door. "You really were affected by being shoved into the lake, weren't you?"

Light shrugged and smoothed his hair down as he walked through the door, trailing mud and water onto the immaculate marble. Light was merely grateful that there was not a single stretch of carpet in the entire place. That would have been a disaster.

"What the fuck happened to you two?" came a voice and Light almost swore as the entirety of Wammy's House exited the dinner room to see a dripping wet Light and Mello. Matt looked particularly shocked and more than a little confused. Linda looked like she was holding back laugher as she quickly sketched the scene. Light could hardly blame her, it was probably quite something to behold, but he'd have to persuade her to burn it later. Or do it himself.

"Don't ask." Mello spat before Light could spin a story out of nowhere, "Just. Don't. Ask."

"Oh, but it looks so compromising." Linda said, smirking as she tucked away her sketchbook. "Tell me, did Mello finally confess his secret love for you?"

Matt and Mello both sputtered while Light threw her a withering look. "Yes Linda, that's _exactly_ what happened. Clearly the fact that he hated me was secretly repressed sexual tension. Clearly." At the horrified looks from the other children, Light decided that the sarcasm had not been registered.

"Oh, come on, that's almost as plausible as Mello and Near getting together. Obviously that didn't happen. And I'm eleven. He's eight. Not happening." Light said, before he started to make his way back up the stairs, when Roger came out of his office. Brilliant, today was just conspiring to make everything turn out absolutely horribly.

"What…what is going on?" asked Roger, looking flabbergasted. Mello looked like he was going to growl something but Roger hastily added, "Never mind, I don't want to know. Ju-just clean it up."

Light plastered on his most reassuring smile on his face. This was obviously some kind of test of his composure, from the gods above. He'd never really believed in them, but really, there was no other explanation for the events today. Unless they were orchestrated by L. Either way, his composure needed to be kept as pristine as possible.

"Nothing for you to be worried about, Roger. Don't worry, it will look as if nothing has ever happened here by the end of the day. I promise you that. No need to create extra work for the caretakers, hmm?" Light said, keeping his voice as charming as possible. Roger looked like he was still in shock but nodded dumbly.

"Cindy, why don't you take Mr. Ruvie back to his office? And ask the kitchen for some tea. Looks like he's going to need it." said Light and Cindy nodded enthusiastically, grabbing Roger's arm and steering him away from where Mello and Light were dripping water.

"Right then," Light said as they rounded the corner, "What're you lot still doing here? How am I supposed to clear this up when you're all loitering around? Go do homework. I know that you have some. I'll be doing study session tomorrow. I have a lot to get done as you can all see."

There was a lot of laughter and most of the people sauntered off. Linda shot him a grin and mouthed '_I'm not helping you, Light. Cleaning is beneath my talents_.' Typical, just typical. When he needed her help, she was never there to offer it.

A shower sounded very, very promising right now. But cleaning this up was going to be a pain. But-an idea occurred to Light, and he grinned almost demonically as he considered the idea. It had its merits, it was quick and, well, he would garner a lot of attention. No one would be able to ignore this. Let Mello try and beat this for interesting.

(X)

Light was wearing a hoodie and jeans as he came down the stairs, balancing buckets, sponges and brushes in her arms. He was certain that there was a chance of water spillage if he was to clean the whole orphanage in this way. And anyway, Light didn't particularly treasure this outfit as much as the other one.

Mello was wearing his usual black shirt and jeans, and Light wondered if that was the only type of clothing he had, After all, Light had never seen Mello wear anything else that wasn't leather. "What…what is that, Lucifer?" he asked, looking at the pile of things that Light was carrying

'It's called cleaning supplies, Mello. You didn't think that I was just going to use elbow grease to try and clean all of the orphanage?" said Light, rolling his eyes as he struggled to open the closet. To his surprise, Mello opened it for him and Light quickly grabbed the elastic from the top shelf and pulled himself out of there, to prevent the possibility of Mello shutting him in there. That seemed like the kind of thing that Mello would find funny.

Light finally placed all of his supplies on the one clean patch and pulled out the soap. "Are you going to help me, Mello?" he asked, as he carried the bucket towards the laundry room, where the tap is far enough away from the ground to fit a bucket in.

Mello snorted. "Not a chance."

Light rolled his eyes. "Then go do your homework. I know you have some because you're in my classes, and I have a tonne to finish."

Mello leant against the wall and kicked out his foot. "I think it'd be more entertaining to watch you flail."

Light smirked, unable to stop himself. Mello had a surprise coming if he thought Light was going to flail around. "Suit yourself. Don't complain about your workload later though." Light said, as he pumped some of the liquid soap into the bucket, and watched it foam and froth as it was churned by the running water.

Once that was done, Light walked out of the laundry room and shut the door. He checked down the length of the corridor but all of the doors were shut so Light threw the soapy water down the length of the corridor, splashing Mello's trousers.

"Careful!" Light said a little belatedly, with a smirk on his face. Much to his amusement, Mello had yelped as the water had splashed him

Quickly standing on the top of the two brushes he'd grabbed from before, he fastened the elastic around then and his feet. Once they were secured, Light clung to the walls before pushing off. It was difficult doing it, but the soap was slick under his feet and soon he was reaching high speeds.

Light felt precarious on these. He'd gone rollerblading only once before with his friends back in Japan and Yumi had used it as an opportunity to cling to Light and squeal like a baby every time she became close to slipping, which had reduced his opportunity to actually skate. But he had enjoyed it, and keeping his balance was keeping him awake and alert. Having not eaten was taking its toll on Light's mind already, but this…the adrenaline was sharpening his senses. As he neared the end of the corridor, Light used the wall as a pivot point and pulled himself around, leaving a trail of suds in his wake. He waved at Mello as he passed by him, making sure to push his feet harder on the areas that were dirty.

"What…what are you doing?" asked Mello, looking confused.

Light rolled his eyes. "I'm cleaning and skating. It's keeping my physical exercise to a peak, having fun and getting work done. A bonus would be if I could study at the same time, but then I would crash into the walls."

Mello threw him a strange look. "You're a strange person." He said, after a while, as Light looped around him again.

Light grinned, feeling remarkably like the Cheshire Cat as he swirled around Mello. "We're all mad here…. And move, you're standing right on a dirty patch."

Mello moved out of the way and gaped as Light completely ignored that patch and started zooming back up the corridor. Taking a deep breath in, Light used the wall of the corridor as a pivot and pushed himself at high speed over the area. Momentum equaled mass times velocity after all, so Light crouched low to the ground, hopefully pressing more of his mass onto the ground, therefore increasing his speed.

He zoomed just past Mello as people started to open their doors. The suds flew in his wake and he could see that the water was starting to seep into their rooms. They shut their doors and lined the sides of the corridor as Light looped around once more, slowing down to check for any more dirty patches, and while the floor wasn't pristine, it wasn't exactly filthy either, anymore.

Light slowed and stopped, removing the brushes from his feet. They were blackened and rubbed raw from the friction. Light untied the elastic and grabbed some dishcloths. The kids gossiped as Light now adjusted towels to his feet. "Anyone else want to give me a hand drying the floor?" he asked and a few of the younger kids volunteered. Light instructed them to stand on the towels and slide across the water.

Light himself demonstrated with considerably less grace than he had possessed when he had slid across the floor with the brush-skates. However, the floor seemed to dry itself a lot easier than it cleaned itself. Perhaps it was the influence of the kids; maybe it was the fact that the absorbance materials of the cloth were higher than the brushing qualities of the cloth. Maybe drying was just an easier activity than cleaning. And exactly when had Light gotten so bored that he'd started philosophizing about cleaning supplies and waxing eloquent about sport?

"That was fun, Light!" said Emma standing up, as she finished her spot.

Light laughed mirthlessly. "Wait until we've finished cleaning all six floors. It'll seem considerably less fun then, I assure you."

Emma looked nervous. "All six?"

Light laughed. "All six! Don't you want to try the skates on?"

Emma nodded. "I've never gone skating before," she confided, like it was a big secret.

Light grinned. "Well, there's a first time for everything! See who can get fill up the buckets and get down there first. I'll set up the skates!"

The children shrieked and started running along the corridor. The less interested ones had drifted away and Mello was still perched on the staircase. He was now eating a bar of chocolate. Linda had joined him and she waved at Light, her pencil in hand.

"Are you getting on the skates again?" Linda asked as she added fisnihing touches to her sketch.

"Probably, yes." Light said easily, pulling his fingers through his hair. "Do you want that in sketch form as well?"

Linda nodded. "Of course I do! I want everyone like that! The motion created and the angles! It's just brilliant. I wish I could get everyone skating."

Light grinned. "We can sure try…Makes my job easier too. Want to give me a hand, Mello?"

Mello rolled his eyes as he tucked the wrapper of the chocolate away. "Fine. We'll have a race. Whoever wins it, gets to announce it at breakfast and write it next to the listings."

Light grinned. "You're on. I'll win this, you just see."

Mello smirked. "You wish that you'd win that easily."

And just like that, their friendly rivalry had snapped back into place. Strange, how things could be so quickly negated. Light wouldn't be able to forget what Mello was capable of, and Light was sure that Mello wouldn't forget what Light could do, but the masks were back, in any case. Maybe it was for the best, Light wasn't sure he couldn't handle another day like this one.

(X)

Light stretched as he came out of their evening class for Maths. His work on polynomial functions had been flawless as per usual. All of his work had been flawless for the past six months that Light had been at Wammy's. And frankly, around now, Light was getting bored. The routine was becoming stifling, as it had before and Light was sure that it would continue to.

He did so hate it when things got boring. A good criminal case would be able to clear this up. Light would have to attempt to cajole Linda into accompanying him to the police station. Near almost never stepped out of the orphanage's grounds unless absolutely necessary and he was sure that Mello would point-blank refuse. Their little prank sparring had become increasingly amusing, as they attempted to outwit the other. Light was still curious as to exactly how Mello had convinced the gardener to mow Wammy's grass into Mello's name, but he was sure that it was probably immoral.

Light was sure that he would have been able to convince Matt into coming with him, but it would take too much effort and then Matt wouldn't be much help to him, with his video-game obsession, Light would probably be tricked into expending a ridiculous amount of money on something that Matt would barely play.

Light was pulled out of these musings as he saw Linda surreptitiously collecting money from people who seemed to barely notice it as she passed them in the corridors, by 'bumping' into them. This…was unusual behaviour. Linda had never demonstrated any kleptomaniac tendencies nor any inclinations that she particularly needed money.

Light sidled up to her. "Any reason you're conning people out of their money?" he asked, from behind her. She squeaked and clutched her heart.

"Don't do that!" she said, swatting his arm. "That was terrifying!" she said, looking righteously indignant.

Light raised his hands up. "Relax Linda. Technically, you're the one committing a crime currently."

Linda rolled her eyes. "I'm no criminal. If I was, I'd be a lot more subtle about it, trust me. I'm collecting birthday money."

Light raised an eyebrow. "Birthday…money?" he asked. He hated being confused.

Linda grinned easily. "Yeah, whenever it's peoples' birthdays, we usually have a little fund for them to get them presents. But we're running a little low on the fund this year. I think we spent too much money on Jason's present last month, so I was gathering donations. But you know, standing in the corridors is pretty unsubtle and not very surprising. We like to surprise people."

Light raised his eyebrows again. "So you pickpocketed them and left them an 'IOU' note? That's your idea of a surprise?"

Linda rolled her eyes. "No, obviously not. That's an awful surprise. No, it's supposed to be a surprise for the recipient. If I shout it from the dining room, it's hardly a secret. And Near's pretty observant, so even if I tried to be a little less secretive, he'd pick up on it."

Light felt his eyebrows raise. "It's Near's birthday?"

Linda nodded. "In two days. August 24th. At least, it's the day he chose as his day to celebrate his birthday on. It may or may not be his real birthday. In any case, I need the money to get the materials to make the gift."

"Make?" Light asked, feeling amused.

Linda nodded, looking a little sheepish. "Usually, we liked to get him puzzles or something to build, but nothing is that much of a challenge for him. I had an idea that might actually shock him a little, but it'll need to be hand-crafted. And the equipment will take a bit more money than I'd set aside for him at the beginning of the year."

Light grinned, this was interesting. "Well, you'll need someone to go into town with you."

She looked skeptical. "You're actually offering?"

Light nodded. "Out of the kindness of my own heart. Anyway, I need to get him a gift as well. I'd heard of something new that was created a month or two ago. It was real big amongst the collectors. It's a Rubik's Cube, but with dimensions of 4x4x4 instead of just 3. I thought of Near when I saw it, especially since he's collected almost eight of the normal ones from everyone else around the orphanage."

Linda grinned. "And you have no ulterior motive whatsoever?" she said, her eyes twinkling as she tied her hair back into two bunchies.

"Of course not, whatever would make you think that?" said Light, faking shock and hurt. "Of course, if we make a side-trip to the police station and just happen to ask them if they have any interesting cases, it will be a complete coincidence, I assure you."

Linda smirked. "A complete coincidence, I'm sure."

Light smiled and patted her head as mockingly as possible. "Glad we understand each other!"

She burst into giggles and they made their way outside.

(X)

"That was possibly the smallest case scoop I've ever done." said Light looking annoyed as the sun set on their walk through the gates of the orphanage. It was raining miserably and Light's fringe lay lankly upon his head, as he was without an umbrella. Linda had owned a hoodie to protect her, but had sacrificed it to protect Near's present making items. Light was very curious as to the purpose for the large block of wood, hand saw, sandpaper and little metal wires.

"Well, it is Winchester, Light. We're not exactly crime ridden." said Linda as they reached the entrance.

"Yes, well, there wasn't even one pox-ridden case though! I thought they'd at least have something interesting! I'm so bored!" Light exclaimed as they ducked inside.

"Bored?" asked Linda, looking nonplussed. "How can you be bored?"

"It's too easy!" Light said. 'The lessons start out okay, but they get tiring soon enough. It's new material sure, but none of it is difficult. I'm not being challenged. The only interesting thing is situational sparring with Mello, but you can only do so much of something until it gets dull."

Linda sighed. "I can't sympathise. I'm finding everything challenging. It's difficult keeping up in subjects like Maths and Science. The only reason I'm still fifth is because of your help. Otherwise, I'm sure that Elpheba would have overtaken me by now."

Light rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly, you're doing just fine. You're just putting too much effort into things like Art History which have no importance in the process of becoming L. If you put the bare minimum into those, you'd be fine in the other subjects."

Linda pulled a face. "But Light, Maths is so boring! Psychology and Art are fascinating. Anyway, I'm actually good at them."

Light flicked his wet hair out of his face as they headed up the stairs, dripping water as they went. "You know, there's a saying. If you put 10,000 hours of practice into something, you have to become good at it. You've put in 10,000 hours of practice into Art, but not nearly as much into Maths and Science. If you stopped Art and tried Math and Science, you'd be good at them too. But it really all depends on what you're interested. You're more interested in Art and Pyschology, which is why you're better at them."

"Very logical approach to take with things, Light." said Linda, "That's why you're still number one. And have no creativity whatsoever."

Light gaped. "No creativity! I do believe—"

"Methods on how to kill people in several different gruesome ways is not creative Light, it is sick." Linda interrupted, pulling a face.

"If you'll recall, I was not the only one doing that. The entire Pysch class was doing it." Light retorted, as he pulled off his jacket that seemed to be doing the most dripping.

"Yes," said Linda, "But your ideas were the most disgusting."

Light rolled his eyes. "Yes, because I wanted to win. Obviously. I wouldn't ever actually consider doing any of them. Can you imagine how much blood that would cause to spill? My clothes would never be the same! And it's ridiculously amoral."

Linda snorted. "Typical. You wouldn't become a mass-murderer because the blood would stain your clothes. Is it weird that I actually think that getting dirty is enough of a deterrent to stop you from snapping and killing everyone?"

"No, I just think it's his God Complex coming into play. He would never commit murder if it would stain his immaculate appearance." said Mello as he passed them along the corridor, munching on a bar of chocolate.

Light merely flipped Mello the bird as a response and Mello cackled the way down the corridor. Linda brushed out her hair as they reached the workshop.

"Okay, I'll see you at dinner. Maybe. I doubt I'll come down! This'll take up a lot of my time." She said, looking a little stressed, as she set up the materials over the RM lab, starting the electric saw up as she darted around the room.

Light stopped her narrowly before she collided with the sandpaper filled boxes. "Look, I'll give you a hand. I'm curious anyway and I finished my homework."

Linda smiled. "Thanks Light. But I do the creative stuff. Savvy?"

Light laughed and grabbed the wood saw as Linda laid out her blueprints for the object.

(X)

Light stretched as he came out of his room. He carried his rubiks cubes under his arm and on the staircase, Linda had neatly wrapped the wooden contraption they had spent all of yesterday creating. Light had been tentatively impressed by her attention to detail, the shape would have been impossible to create otherwise.

"Hey Light!" she said, looking tired. "I spent most of last night painting so hopefully the sandpaper disaster will no longer look like it happened."

Light rolled his eyes, he'd almost forgotten about that. "There wasn't any need to do that. Near wouldn't really have minded about perfection. It's brilliant enough as it is."

Linda shrugged and shuffled her feet a little. "I feel like he deserves at least one well-thought out present from somebody."

Light nodded; he was surprised that Linda seemed to care this much about the boy who barely seemed to give her the time of day. How strange human interactions were sometimes. At least Matt's loyalty to Mello seemed justifiable.

Light walked down the stairs to the second floor, where Near's room was. Since Near was still eight, Light knew that he shared with someone, but as they walked down, he saw that the reclusive Arabian boy had already left. Linda rapped on the door and Near answered pretty promptly.

"Hello Linda, Light." He greeted, looking a little tired.

Linda beamed. "Happy Birthday Near!" She thrust the wrapped present into his hands. "This is for you! I remember that the puzzle last year barely fazed you, so I made it a little harder! Maybe this will last more than 10 minutes!"

Near looked slightly bemused. "I'm fairly certain it will take at least fifteen minutes. Making it took three hours after all." said Light, rolling his eyes, "And that was with two of us."

Near shuffled back inside his room and Light followed him, and Linda came in, a little more hesitantly. Near slowly tugged at the wrapping paper, his face still looking a tad surprised. Light grinned as the paper fell off the reveal the white 3D puzzle cat. He had been impressed by the design of Linda's and by the concept. 3D puzzles were something that hadn't occurred to Light at all and considering that all of the pieces were white and concave, he really didn't know how Near was going to solve them.

"This…" said Near, his eyes, just a little wider than before, "I am sure that it will take at least 15 minutes." Then, to Light's surprise, his mouth curved into a smile. "Thank you Linda." Said the boy, a hint of genuine gratitude in his voice.

Linda was almost bouncing off the walls with happiness. It took nearly all of Light's energy to stop the smirk from appearing on his face. "Here," Light said, throwing the wrapped package towards Near. "I remember the eight rubiks cube puzzle you did last month. Let's see if you can replicate it with these."

Near pulled off the brown wrapping paper and raised an eyebrow at the four by four cubes. "Well now," he said, "It may take a minute or so."

Light grinned. "Surely, it will take at least a minute and twenty?"

Near rolled his eyes. "For you, maybe." He said, as he placed the cubes on his shelf neatly. Linda's cat remained on his table.

"Coming down to breakfast?" Linda asked and Near shook his head.

"I prefer to stay in my room on my birthday. I can avoid the well-wishers then. Those whom actually wish to congratulate me on surviving another year will make their way here. Or, in Mello's case, he'll attempt to make sure I don't survive until next year." Near said, his voice dry and he twirled at his hair.

Light couldn't stop the laughter, the younger boy's humour matched his own so very well. "This year, things are going to be different," Light said, as he grabbed Near's sleeve and pulled him out of the room. Linda grinned gleefully and joined Light in pulling Near out of the room.

Near merely rolled his eyes and resigned himself to the torture. Light merely smirked and whispered, "Better to keep things interesting. Too much of a routine gets boring."

Near coolly threw him another look. "This is because there weren't any cases at the police station, is it not? There is no other reason for your apparent interest in my torture in this manner. I know that you yourself despise the fake attention."

Light shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe I have ulterior motives other than boredom. You never know."

Near smirked. "I sincerely doubt that it is out of the goodness of your own heart."

Light merely regarded Near calmly. "When have any of us done anything out of the goodness of our own hearts in this place? Here, selfishness helps us survive. We come first. Others come second. I am merely adapting to the status quo."

Near rolled his eyes. "More like embracing the status quo as it is what you have previously hidden beneath the kind exterior. Don't throw me the innocent look, I know you, Light. A killer stares from your eyes."

Light frowned. "Killer? I am no killer. Genius stares out of my eyes. It's the same look in L's eyes. It's the look of boredom, the look of a picky, bored god, who only helps police cases because it's more interesting than being a criminal. Don't make the mistake of idealizing a man who is just as flawed, if not more, than the rest of us."

Linda frowned as she caught wind of their conversation. "It's not that we idealize him. We know that he's human. But the fact goes, he's what we aspire to be. At least, what most people aspire to be." She said, looking a little guilty.

"Hmm." Light said, as the reached the dining room, "But the fact goes, is that none of you know anything about him. You aspire to take his position and do what he does, not become him. You don't want to become him."

Roger looked flustered as he came behind the three of them. "Lucifer?" he asked and Light spun round around, plastering a dazzling smile on his face, as if he hadn't just been undermining the founder of the orphanage.

"What is it, Roger?" he asked, modulating his voice to make it sound concerned yet carefree.

"The police are asking for you. There's a case they want to you to solve." Roger says.

Light frowned, already? A case had shown up since the night before? And it was urgent enough to warrant calling the orphanage directly? Light was about to agree, before stopping. He'd given the police his mobile phone's number yesterday. Why would they have directly called the orphanage? This didn't make any sense. "Just me? Or can Near and Linda come along?" he asks, casually, testing the water.

"No!" said Roger, looking a little panicked. "Just you."

Light almost smirked, he was sure that this was L or Watari rather than the police. More likely L, due to the subterfuge and Roger's panicked state. If it had been the police, any amount of help would have been welcomed. Sometimes, Light wondered just how Roger's intelligence matched up to all of the children in the orphanage. His acting was terrible (but maybe it was on purpose? Can't think like that, he'd go round in thought spirals and never gain an optimum deduction.)

Near caught Light's gaze and almost casually touched his index and pinky finger to his ear. Light grinned and imperceptibly nodded. Hopefully that would be enough for understanding. Light's phone was on, and if by any chance it was actually a criminal masquerading as L, Light would be able to use it.

"Of course Roger. Let me just grab my jacket." Said Light calmly, going to the coat rack and unhooked his new blazer jacket, swinging it around his arm casually.

Linda wave, her smile a little forced, her eyes a little mix between nervous and jealous. Really, Roger was very transparent if even Linda could see his true agenda.

Roger nodded. "There's a car waiting outside." He said, wringing his hands around and Light smiled reassuringly again, raised a hand towards Linda and Near before walking out of the door. The morning air was chill against his shirt, but Light had no inclination to put on his jacket.

As Roger had said, there was a black car waiting at the entrance and Light walked towards it, hand's casually in his pockets, as he opened the back door and eased himself in. A laptop was waiting on the seat next to the entrance and Light buckled himself in, before picking up the laptop.

"Hello L." Light said, as the screen flashed to a white colour, "How are you today?"

**AN: So, have a cliffhanger! This was a whopper to write, but only took so much time because of school being a pain. If you like my narrative as Light, go read Redivivus by Silver Pard, which inspired my Light! If you like my Linda, go read 'The Aftertaste of Death' by oursolemnhour49 for a kindred interpretation! If you like Mello and Matt's adaptations…pretty much read anything by Satan's Sweeties and Cyri's Alter Ego. Yeah, recommendations over. **


	5. Chapter 5

**The Heirs to a Spider's Web**

**Chapter 5**

**AN: Thanks for all the support and kind feedback! I love hearing from every single one of you!**

_A laptop was waiting on the seat next to the entrance and Light buckled himself in, before picking up the laptop._

_"Hello L." Light said, as the screen flashed to a white colour, "How are you today?"_

"Light Yagami," said a robotic voice and Light tutted.

"A voice filter? For shame, L. You can trust me." He said, smirking as he leant back in the car seat, as the engine purred underneath him.

"Can I really?" asked the voice, seemingly emotionless, yet Light could almost see the young man smirking as he leant back in his chair.

"Of course not. I wouldn't trust me, if I were in your position, and I didn't grow up with several years brainwashing to never trust anyone. Did you grow up in Wammy's House?" Light asked conversationally.

To Light's surprise, the white screen blinked off and a camera feed of L in a darkened room showed up instead. His eyes looked darker than ever, and the bags beneath them seemed larger. His skin was pastier and his hair messier. Somehow, Light was not surprised to see the large amount of cheesecake that was currently residing beside L. "Lucifer-kun, I've heard reports that you've utterly discarded your code name."

Light sighed. "You seriously summoned me into an ominous black looking car because I didn't use my codename? I'm disappointed; L. Nobody suspects anything, especially since Mello's pranks that made me out to be the incarnation of Satan. Most people were happier to switch to the meaning of Lucifer anyway."

L looked slightly amused. "I didn't solely summon you for that purpose. But this is a serious matter, Lucifer-kun. Your real name will compromise you. You mustn't use it."

Light put a hand on his heart in mock-shock. This was too easy. "You mean you actually care about somebody other than yourself?"

The irritation was now plain to see on L's face. "Will you please show some maturity? I know that you possess some, if the teacher's accounts are anything to go by. Frankly, I haven't seen any evidence that supports that."

Light straightened a little. "If you are this uptight about some simple sarcasm, this is serious. How many people died?"

"25 so far, in brutal manners." said L, "Even the criminal world was shocked. And it is, I need your help."

Light nodded. 'What do you need me to do?" he said, not feeling overly eager.

"I need a proxy to transfer my message to someone." Said L in a monotone voice and Light frowned.

"Isn't that what Watari is for?" Light asked, "I'm a child, he's hardly going to be intimidated by me."

L nodded. "Unfortunately, the man already knows Watari's true identity, so I need someone who will be anonymous, and as you have been consistently the highest score at Wammy's, I figured you'd be able to keep your wits about you."

Light nodded and frowned. "That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be better than Watari."

L looked at him, his eyes bright. "You want to not be bored and to be able to do something amazing for this world. You can go back to the orphanage, where you were complaining of boredom, or you can help me. Your choice."

Light grinned easily. "I never said that I wouldn't accept your offer. Merely that I wasn't exactly the best candidate that you could have chosen. I'm not turning down an opportunity like this. Now, tell me more about the case."

L nodded. "All over Germany, there has been a serious of mysterious and brutal murders. All of the victims have been Catholics whom attended a particular church, and all of them have been crucified and nailed to different surfaces inside their houses, which implies that they knew the murderer well. Their bodies are carved with some dialect of Arabic, which we've sent off to be examined and analysed, though I'm certain that is not where I'll find the answer to the murderer's identity."

Light frowned. "You think that it's a diversion." He stated.

L nodded. "I'm sure. Why else would the killer give me clues?"

Light smirked. "He's arrogant. He's arrogant enough to give you clues, because he still thinks that you won't be able to catch him. But you must have come to that conclusion as well."

L nodded. "I've had the police and superior DNA analysts dusting down the entire houses for prints, but there haven't been many similar prints amongst them, and of those that have been similar, well, they're all dead now, and the murders still continue."

Light felt his eyebrows rise besides himself. "So there's an invisible killer going about doing these things."

L shook his head. "No one is invisible, Lucifer-kun. We'll catch him."

"Or her." said Light, cutting in as L made to give him more details about the murders. L threw him a look and Light shrugged. "What? You shouldn't rule out the gender immediately. A woman would be just as, if not more, capable of committing these murders. They are known for being more passionate, after all."

L shook his head, looking a little bemused, though it was well hidden. "I cannot believe you, Lucifer-kun. Even in serious situations, you cannot help but be facetious. Truly a talent made to vex people."

"Made to vex you." Light pointed out as he leant back, stretching a little. 'That can't be all you've found out about the case. Tell me the rest. I'll try to keep the comments to a minimum."

L's eyes widened for a bit in surprise, but kept going. "I sent a few people to interview the remaining members of the church, who were terrified for their lives, apart from the priest."

Light felt his eyebrows raise. "You think that the priest killed them." He said flatly.

L shook his head. "No, merely that he was unafraid for his life, which meant that he either knew who the killer was or was confident that the killer wouldn't target him. Him being the killer was extremely unlikely, seeing as he had alibis for several of the murders."

"But not all of them." Light cut in, "You can't just rule him out as a suspect. This sounds like a job for at least two people."

L nodded, but there was something of an amused look in his eyes. "Either way, when we interviewed him, there was no connection to the killer; he seemed genuinely confused by the idea. His faith that he wouldn't be killed was that of faith in god that he, the ever pious, wouldn't be targeted by the killer. The next day, he's dead in a similar fashion. I'd say that ruled him out."

Light winced. "Wow, religious fanatics. You put him under surveillance though, right?"

L nodded. "That is correct. However, before you interrupt, Lucifer-kun, we did not catch the killer on camera. They buzzed out for half an hour and I sent Watari there immediately, but it was too late. In the space of 15 minutes, the killer had done his work."

Light placed a hand to his mouth, this was strange indeed. "So somehow, this killer managed to phase out all of your cameras and sound feeds and kill the guy in the space of fifteen minutes, without any evidence. It sounds like a tricky case, but I still don't see where I come in."

L rolled his eyes. "Patience Lucifer-kun, I am telling this chronologically, so you may reach the same conclusions as I did along the way. By the way, there should be a brown file in the car door next to you, open that and you will see the pictures of the bodies, if you wish."

Light took the file out and nearly gagged as he saw the first picture, of an old woman nearly stripped naked and with strips of flesh peeled from her wrists and stomach to create twisted symbols. Light shut the file and put his head in his hands. "This is worse than looking at the Lapland Glacier's case photos." He muttered.

L looked at him shrewdly, his shoulders seeming to perk upwards as he leant forwards. "You solved that case?"

Light shook his head. "My father did. But I saw the case files and I was following it closely. You have to remember, I was around seven when the Lapland Glacier was committing murders, my father wouldn't have let me."

L shrugged. "I was solving cases when I was six years old, Lucifer-kun, age is not a factor in the equation. But nevertheless, this camera incident scared a lot of the police working on it. Many quit this case or refused to aid me, so I was reduced to only my loyal operatives, which are not many. And then things, escalated. The media got hold of some case details and the whole country and the Vatican went into outrage."

Light frowned. "Hold up, if it was that big, how come we didn't hear about it?"

L smirked. 'The police were still willing to work with us on some counts. They stopped the news escaping too far by censoring the reports. The panic would have been outrageous and this is a top-secret mission. But, it had already reached the criminal underworld, and a …associate of mine, codenamed Aiber, contacted me, saying that someone had information about the case. Aiber had…persuaded him into wanting to give to the police. He wanted to meet with Watari, because he was sure whom the murderer was."

Light felt his eyes widen a little. "Lucky coincidence," he said, as lightly as possible, making sure not to reveal the shock of the news that L worked with criminals, had hit him.

"Indeed. The contact's codename was Santiano, but Watari recognized it as an old, estranged friend of Quillsh Wammy. If Watari showed up, the contact would almost certainly recognize his voice. It would be…disastrous, to say in the least. So, I need someone whom is as of yet, unknown to him. And you are pretty tall for your age, Lucifer-kun."

Light nodded but tapped his finger against his cheek. "This is lucky, but you must take into account that it could be a trap."

L smirked. "Of course I am aware of this fact. That is why you are going, and not me."

Light glared at L. "Very funny L. I'll be taking a wire and a camera with me, right?"

L nodded. "Yes, and a distress signal as a belt. Watari should have them. But first, you'll have to take a plane to Luxembourg."

Light almost groaned. "But I don't have any luggage, L! What do I wear? Why the hell didn't you tell me to pack some overnight bag or something? I have nothing but what I'm wearing!"

L rolled his eyes. "You can shop at the airport. Your flight is in three hours, in any case. You have some toiletries as a hand-luggage underneath your seat. It should be to your taste. I have also packed a book about Luxembourgish, our contact may attempt to speak that. I am going to assume that your French and German is perfect."

Light nodded. "Bien sur." He answered easily.

L nodded. "By now, you should have arrived at the airport. I would ask that you turn the laptop off and put it in the traveling bag. There's a brown plastic bag in there, which has your fake passport and ticket details. Get your boarding pass from the check-in queue, then do what you want."

Light rolled his eyes as he pulled the bag out of the seat. "I have been on an aeroplane before, I know the procedure."

L nodded. "Do remember your fake name, Light. And date of birth. That kind of information is important."

Light flicked through the contents of the bag. There was a toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush (thank god), a wallet filled with euros and pounds, and a language book, as promised. Inside the brown plastic bag, Light found his passport and opened that. He was now Hubert Clatthieu, citizen of France, currently living in England. Aged 18, fresh out of the lycees of France. That meant that his date of birth was… 1979. Yep, that was correct, 5th of September 1979.

"Hmmm, Clatthieu. A strange surname. Any reason that you wanted me to be French?" asked Light, as he closed the bag up again, as the car drew up outside the departures gate.

"You speak it the best, out of all of your chosen languages, and I want your cover to stay, during the whole venture." said L, "If it does, we can use it at another point."

"Hmm." Light says, and shuts down the computer and tucks it into the bag. He smooths out his hair and looks towards the screen separating driver and passenger. He raps on it and the man who had escorted Light to the orphanage previously, lowers the screen and grins. "Oh it's you, mate! I was wondering about the hush-hush. Good luck, whatever you're doing!"

Light nodded. "Thank you very much." He said, smoothly and in perfect French. He gracefully rose out of the car and slung the messenger bag around his shoulder, before walking towards the airport, with only the slightest hint of trepidation.

(X)

Light sighed as he walked out of customs gate, with only a hint of annoyance on his face. Despite being in first class, the flight had been awful. This time, instead of the lady repeatedly trying to look after Light, she had been flirting with him instead, which had been nearly intolerable. Exactly how did eleven year old Light manage to pass off as an eighteen year-old, Light didn't know. He presumed that it was his immense charm working in his favour, here. Thank god he'd already gone through puberty, or else his cover would have been blown nearly immediately.

He smoothed out his hair and texted Linda quickly as he strode down the stairs of Luxembourg's airport. He'd already informed Near and Linda about his mission in the bathroom, and they'd been a mix between worried (Linda), thoughtful (Near) and jealous (Both).

As he navigated another long set of corridors, Light decided that all airports looked the same. Japan, Thailand, Heathrow and the Luxembourg airport all looked exactly the same with the steel and glass contraption and long corridors covered in disgusting looking carpets. He hated traveling.

As he walked into the waiting room, he spotted the policewoman waiting immediately, with a small sign with the letter L on it. "Bonjour madame." he said smoothly and she smiled.

"Vous parlez francais?" she asked, looking amused. "Mais, vous etes venu a partir d'Angleterre." _(You speak French? But, you have come from England.)_

"Bien sur, je m'appelle Hubert Clatthieu. Je suis habite en France pour cinq ans." said Light smoothly and the policewoman looked a little embarrassed. _(Of course, my name is Hubert Clatthieu. I lived in France for five years.)_

"Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. J'ai suppose—"_ (Pardon me, sir. I assumed-)_

"Ne supposez rien; c'est une mauvaise chose." said Light smoothly, "Maintenant, je veux voir 'L', comme promis."_ (Don't assume anything, it's a bad thing. Now, I want to see 'L', like promised.)_

"Venez avec moi, monsieur." said the policewoman, a little sulkily._ (Come with me, sir.)_

Light walked outside. The weather was startlingly different to England. Where England had been reluctantly warm, here, it was like walking into a sauna. The difference a few hundred miles made was simply astounding. Light shed his jacket and walked towards the police car waiting for him. Now Light felt a little confused. Hadn't L said that the police had stopped working with him? He distinctly remembered that. So why was he being taken to L in a police car?

Light felt his grip tighten around his phone. He remembered that the French emergency number was 112, or 117 if he wanted the Police specifically. "Ou allons nous?" asked Light, making sure to sound as calm as possible._ (Where are we going?)_

"Le commissariat de police." She answered shortly as they both neared the car._ (The police station)_

To his surprise, the usual passenger seat from Britain opened up to the driver seat. She threw him a glare and Light stepped back. "Pardonnez moi; en Angleterre, la place du passenger est de l'autre cote." Light said, stepping back and pointing for her to get in, as he calmly walked to the other side._ (Excuse me; in England, the passenger's place is on the other side.)_

"Comment tu t'appelles?" Light asked as he buckled himself in. _(What's your name, or, how are you called)_

"Je m'appelle Surita Leblanche." She said, with a sniff, not looking in his direction.

Light refrained from rolling his eyes. Goodness, but he really did hate dealing with stuck-up people. If Mello were here, he mused, he probably would have pointed out how hypocritical that statement was.

The ride towards the police department was in silence and Light nearly died of boredom, so he grabbed his book on Luxembourgish again and started to study it, as they passed the vivid scenery of the country and city.

"Vous ne parlez pas beaucoup." said the policewoman as she parked outside the police station. _(You don't talk very much.)_

Light threw her a withering look; a statement as obvious as that didn't deserve an answer. Waiting outside the police station was Watari.

"Hello Hubert." He said in English, "The police have decided to lend us three of their officers.

"Really?" Light answered in kind, "How kind of them. Whom are they?"

"Madame Leblanche behind you is one of them." said Watari, placidly. Light gritted his teeth; that was an annoying turn of affairs.

"And the others?" asked Light, making sure to keep smiling and keep his cool.

"Monsieur Cenac is at the moment unable to be here, he is currently dusting another house for DNA. However, Monsieur Primeaux is waiting inside, dealing with the paperwork for this entire meeting." said Watari pleasantly.

"Now, when will I be meeting Santiano?" asked Light briskly and Leblanche sputtered behind him.

"How do you know about the case already?" she fumed, her English strongly accented.

Light lifted one of his eyebrows at her, without changing his bored expression. "I was informed of my status in this case before I came here. I would not place myself in danger for no reason, after all. I have a sense of self-preservation. Apparently however, not one as strong as L himself."

Light was fairly certain that L was listening into this with a wire, and by Watari's fleeting smirk, he was sure that L had reacted. "I do believe that you will be meeting him tomorrow, at 7pm, at the club, Rue Flamel."

Light groaned. "Let me guess," he said, "Santiano picked the meeting location. Why am I not more surprised?"

Watari nodded. "Yes, he did. Now, I will go over protocol with you inside the police investigation department and I will show you the devices that we want you to wear to monitor the conversation. Get used to them, you'll have to act like they aren't there."

Light nodded and followed Watari back into the building, with a scowling Leblanche following behind them.

(X)

Perhaps it was silly of him, but Light felt apprehensive. In total, he had eight surveillance devices on his body, two weapons and three tracking/distress signal devices, all hidden under the black cloaking clothes of Watari and the ridiculous hat that Watari also wore. Evidently, the meeting was more dangerous than L was telling him, or L was really quite paranoid.

The bar itself was perhaps the most embarrassing one that Light had been to. Posing as an eighteen year old was really quite hard when he was standing outside a strip club, waiting for Santiano. Light was now debated whether Santiano was a worthy opponent in the art of the mind, but Light decided that it was much more likely that the man was horny and hoping to get some action after the meeting. How crude.

Light yawned and walked inside. The disco-lights were blaring inside the darkened room, and the music was loud and throbbing. It was the kind of atmosphere that Light loathed, because of the difficulty of thinking clearly and the fact that alcohol was almost certainly expected and Light knew the dangers of mind-altering substances. All of them at Wammy's did. Clouded minds were the last things that they needed. So Mello binged on chocolate, Matt played video-games, Near created structures from toys, Linda drew and Light? Light wasn't sure what he did instead. Was sarcasm his particular trait? Manipulation?

An attractive bar woman wearing skanky clothing sidled up to him. "Hello sir. By any chance, are you perhaps...Watari?" Surprisingly, it was English. Light felt his heart chill a little. This wasn't good. Hubert Clatthieu was french. No reason for her to speak English with her obviously german accent.

Light smiled. "That is indeed correct. Is Santiano expecting me?" he answered in kind.

The woman nodded. "There is a private room reserved for you, this way." she said and Light followed her, forcing his body into looking casual.

The room was quiet, much to Light's relief. A man dressed in black sat in the corner of the room, was sipping a glass of wine, looking casually relaxed as he leant back in a sofa. The black clothes were clean (New? Specially for the occasion? Less chance of DNA prints) and the man's shoes were newly polished, though the shoes were worn (no doubt from a lot of walking. Walking = not privileged or high up = connection to the killer is more personal). His face told an entire story in itself. It was worn with lines and the hair was greying, but yet, Light estimated from his body posture, that the man wasn't above the age of forty. Obviously, being a criminal was a stressful job.

The man looked up at Light's arrival and looked shocked. "You're Watari?" he asked, his voice higher than Light had expected.

Light merely smirked as he took a seat. "You didn't think L only had one Watari? I am one of many. You may address me however, as Hubert."

The man looked shocked. "You're just a kid. You're just a child. I can't get you involved in this."

Light rolled his eyes. "I'm already involved in this. I have been involved in this for a very long amount of time. There's no need to protect me. Now, I believe that you had information for L, about the identity of the murderer in Germany?"

The man nodded, though he looked reluctant to start talking. Taking a sip from his glass, the man paused. "You have to understand, I never meant to get involved with criminals. I'm an honest man, I oversee patents for inventions for the government. I even know the famous inventor, Quillsh Wammy! But, money's tight and my wife...well she's been increasingly more demanding of me. And, I was shown an offer I couldn't refuse! So, I let an invention I knew broke the patent laws into the system for a large sum of money."

Light sighed and kept a stern look on his face. Best not to try his usual understanding ploy; he was acting as Watari, the right-hand man of 'Justice', who wouldn't lend sympathy to a pathetic excuse of a man. But really, what was it with people and exposition? He'd thought that, that was a logic fallacy that only story-books villains were prone to. "So here you met the murderer? What was his name?"

The man nodded. "It probably won't be much help, but I met a man known only as Azriel to those of the underworld."

Light suppressed a gasp as he leant back in his own chair. Azriel was behind the murders? That was bad news indeed. Azriel was supposedly the man behind the funding of most of the European organised crime and supposedly ruled over some of the more powerful asian snakeheads. No one had been able to get near him because he was ruthless in his methods. The moment the police got close to his cronies, that particular chain of his business died and anyone related to him was murdered in a way that seemed accidental. There was no one to place the deaths on, so they passed unnoticed, unremarked upon.

"You met him...in person? How remarkable. What does he look like, out of curiousity?" asked Light coolly, as he tapped his fingers on the table.

"Not...not in person." said the man nervously. "Only...only a little bit. He talked to me from the shadows. I...I couldn't see him. Only hear him. But...he was chilling. He was..frightening."

Light frowned. "So...why are you telling me then? Aren't you afraid for your life?"

The man nodded. "Yes...but, I would rather die with my reputation intact, than live with my secrets spilled. Aiber...was very persuasive."

Light straightened immediately and tensed, that was very, very false. Nobody would value their reputation above their lives, especially not this pathetic man. "So," Light asked conversationally, pressing the distress signal on his watch surreptitiously, "Why would Azriel himself want to meet a lowly patenter? What aren't you telling me?"

"That Azriel himself thought that I was better use alive than a dead man." the man before pulling out a gun and pointing at Light. "I am very sorry, but I overheard something I wasn't supposed to, and he said that if I helped him, he wouldn't kill me. That I'd rise high in the ranks of the underworld!" The man's voice rose higher and higher, and he seemed to have a twitch in his eye.

Light rolled his eyes. "You fool, you poor fool. He lied to you. Why would Azriel keep you alive? Once he has me, he'll kill you anyway, and you'll take me down with you." Light said calmly. "And either way, both of our deaths would be pointless, because I am only one of many Wataris and L will not come and rescue me. No point. Why should he? I'm not even a very important Watari."

Light had no doubt that Azriel was also listening to the conversation, like L was. Hopefully, L would realise to not do anything too stupid until Azriel showed himself to both parties. What evaded Light was Azriel's motive. With a codename like that, Light would have assumed that he was a Christian, which was why the religious deaths of Catholics was confusing. And why that particular church? Had they seen something they weren't supposed to? Did they know Azriel's real identity?

"Lies..." came a soft voice from the door behind Light and the skanky brunette who had brought Light here was also pointing a gun at his head.

Light rolled his eyes. "What is it with criminals and guns? How unoriginal. How boring."

"You aren't a Watari." the woman said again, "Watari is never talkative. Watari never shares anything but what L wants him to. You...you cannot stop talking."

Light rolled his eyes. "So I have a personality. I told you, I'm one of many. And I don't do dangerous situations unless snarky remarks are allowed. The other Wataris may have the ability to remain stoic and follow instructions when there are two unoriginal criminals pointing guns at their heads, but that's not my agenda."

Light hoped that L would catch the hidden meaning there. He was different to the other Wammy's kids. This was not the kind of situation that L would need to rescue him from. That would be pointless.

"Why won't you shut up?" asked the woman as she waved the gun at Light.

"Because you're incompetent and insulting my intelligence. The patent officer has never held a gun in his life before now and will most likely miss when he shoots me and you aren't allowed to shoot me because Azriel wants me alive so that L will come retrieve me, or as the case may be, to take what information I know. So, pun fully intended, take me to your leader." said Light as he made sure the cameras were trained firmly on the woman's face.

The woman growled and barked something in a rough dialect of Russian or some Eastern-European language that Light didn't speak. Two bulky men walked in and grabbed his arms and frogmarched him outside the door. There was a smooth black limousine and they pushed Light inside. As he was placed inside, the two men handcuffed him, much to Light's annoyance and to his utter horror, placed duct tape over his mouth.

Light scowled at them petulantly, he had hoped to disarm them by insulting them to whole way to wherever he was going to talk to the proxy of Azriel but this was insulting and annoying. Light sighed, his knife was resting comfortably in his coat pocket, but it would be removed; if Light was going to be searched, which there was no doubt about, that would be the first place they would look. As people from Europe weren't allowed guns on their person (not to mention the fact that guns were tacky, even if they were quite useful at times), Light did not have a gun. However, he had a blow dart hidden in his hair, the tube in the heel of his shoe and the poison secured inside the beads on his necklace.

Those objects would be difficult to find on his person, but Light was sure that his shoes would be confiscated for the plain and simple reason that shoes were an obvious hiding place, so Light would be left without the tube, meaning that if he needed to get out, he'd have to work from close range attack. Dammit, but Light hated fighting. It was so crude, so inelegant.

The windows in the back of the limousine were tinted, so Light couldn't see where Azriel's people were taking him, but L knew where he was going anyway, so he'd be fine. Speaking of L, Light quickly ran a scan over his tracking devices. The surveillance would be easily found, cameras were too bulky to hide. The listening devices were a little more subtle, so Light was fairly certain that they wouldn't be found. Light was going have act pretty obtuse so L could get all the information he needed, and this was rather annoying.

The car slowed to a halt and Light smirked. Good, they were here. L would be able to come and find him. "Get out, kid." snarled one of the burly men and they shoved him out of the car. They were in a desolate place, a large warehouse. Light quickly scanned around, it was too open, too generic for Azriel's use. Which meant...

Light felt a sharp stab in his arm and Light lolled his head around to look at the injection of something into his bloodstream. By the wooziness and black tunnel enclosing around his vision...it could only mean...sedative...Light was doomed. There was no way he was getting out of this injury free.

(X)

Light felt a sharp stab of pain in his right arm as he came to. He was in a small,dark room and Light's eyes quickly adjusted, as did his mind, the sleep that had so clouded his thoughts almost disappearing. He quickly flexed his shoulder, as if in pain, but was scanning over his whole body. All of the distress signals had been taken away from him. No L coming to rescue him, since the tracking stuff was gone. Brilliant, he was alone. Three of the cameras and two of the recording devices had gone. However, Light still had one camera and two recording devices on his person. That was surprisingly careless of Azriel. Though, Light wasn't complaining, the more stupid that Azriel was, the better for him. All of his Watari clothes had been taken away however, and Light was reduced to wearing jeans and a t-shirt. How annoying.

He also had no shoes and no socks, like he'd been expecting, but his necklace was gone too. No poison either, that was going to be a pain to deal with. Only a blow dart and some surveillance devices? No help from L was forthcoming and he doubted the competence of the three police officers he had seen, especially against Azriel. He'd have to think his way out.

"So Azriel." Light said after a while, "Are you planning to kill me from boredom? Or perhaps starve me of human company so I'll beg to talk to you and spill the beans? Or torture? That'd be interesting, I presume, at least I wouldn't be staring into blackness for ages. It's rather boring."

"You don't know how to keep quiet, do you?"came a drawling, sardonic voice after a few minutes, from the walls. Undoubtedly, it was masked and muffled by a voice filter.

"A voice filter? For shame, Azriel, you can trust me." Light said, with a smirk, echoing the conversation he'd had with L before, not at all expecting the same results.

"Hello Lucifer."said a woman and Light schooled his face to not react, but shit, this was bad. She knew his nickname from Wammy's. How? That kind of knowledge wasn't just passed around like cookies. Light could only thank that she didn't know his real identity, or his family would be in real trouble.

"So, you have access to classified information. Is that supposed to impress me? A kid with a computer could do that." Light said calmly, pulling at his hair.

"Referring to Mattie-kins? He always was good with computers, even as a kid. I suppose you would be bored cooped up in a house with an insane parent." Light felt his blood chill, she was talking about Matt like she knew him well. She had to be a Wammy's alumni. Azriel...the greatest criminal mastermind there was... was an Wammy's House alumni? How messed up did going to this school make you?

"Excuse me," Light asked politely. No point pretending that he was dumb, if she was a Wammy's alumni. "But you sound like you know Matt personally. Will I have heard of you?"

There was a silence. "Perhaps. I wouldn't know. I haven't been back there in a long time. Do they still speak of the people before them?"

Light wracked his brains, Mello had been ranting about how Matt was going to become like the other generations if he didn't stop playing video games and how they'd inevitably gone insane or faded into nothing. "Hmmm... well, if I remember correctly...first generation was L himself. Second generation was A-F, and they're all either dead, in jail or working under L. Third generation was V-Z, and they grew up too quickly and were either criminals, joined the government, which is as bad as being a criminal, or work under L. Currently, the fourth generation are being raised without letters, because it was deemed to heartless an approach to raising vulnerable children. So, you're either from second or third generation."

"That all of your conclusions, Lucifer?" asked the voice and Light rolled his eyes.

"Don't be stupid, I'm first place for a reason. With the name Azriel, you're most likely from second generation. I would say that you're A, but A committed suicide, and you aren't B, because B's in jail. F's dead in line of fire, C and E work under L and D's unaccounted for, so I'd say that you're D. But, that doesn't match, you'd pick a codename to match your name. So, currently, you're either A or D. But, let's not quibble about beings and existence; what I want to know, is why Catholics?"

"Well now," said the voice, "That's impressive. You're sharp. Can you go any further?"

Light grinned, it was like playing the game with L. Almost. At least with L though, he got to keep his clothes on. "I could, but I'd like my question answered first. That would give me some valuable insight."

"You need clues? How disappointing." said the voice, and despite the voice filter, he could hear the disappointment.

"No, I need incentive. There's a difference. What the point of playing a game, if there aren't any stakes? Poker without anything to bet is dull. So, why don't we gamble for information?" Light said, tapping his fingers along his hand. He could be bargaining for his freedom, but no... he just had to have the sense of attempting to solve the case. He hoped that L appreciated this.

"Ah, so you're determined to solve the case... such a good little detective. Such a shame that you need to die." said Azriel with a cold laugh.

Light rolled his eyes. "You are aware of how cliche that is, A?"

The person over the headphone laughed. "You've made your decision as to my identity, then?

Light leant back. "Nope, you made it fairly obvious what your identity was. D was a schizophrenic, self-conscious freak. At least, that's according to Mello. I'm going to trust him on that, he may be potentially homicidal and reckless to a point, but he's rarely wrong about first impressions of people. You have not been acting like that, and those are traits difficult to shake off. D could have been faking it, but it's unlikely, you'd want to look competent at Wammy's, so you could succeed, that's the whole point of the whole orphanage. Therefore, A. You faked a suicide to get out of the institution because you couldn't stand it anymore."

"Correct." the voice purred and the voice filter had been removed. He could now tell that it was the voice of a young woman and she sounded ragged and raw. Wounded. So Wammy's house had hurt her. No excuse for the things she'd done, even if Light could admire the genius behind her actions.

"So A, why catholics? What's the motivation behind catholics? The only link I can think about is Mello, and I'm certain that's my own bias clouding my view. So enlighten me." Light said, aware that he know sounded a little too smug.

"So naive. You really think I'm a Bond villain, don't you? That I'll spill my entire plan to the seemingly helpless hero. I was the protagonist once, Lucifer, and I know that you're smart, you'll find your way out of this. It's simply a matter of how much pain I can inflict upon you before you escape that's in debate here." Her voice was smug, despite the raw pain in her voice. How pitifully cliche. Though, it was nice to have someone aware of the archetypes. Though, she was a Wammy's kid, it was expected of her.

"If that's the way were playing, fine. What a shame, this game could have actually been interesting. You were shaping up to be a better opponent than L." Light said casually, burying the hatred for her deep below all of his masks. Right now, he respected her.

"Better...than L?"And there's a curious tone to her voice. Perfect, he'd got her.

"Oh yes, L's boring when it comes to games. He's always so slow, and when he moves, it's so predictable. So boring. He sticks to the rules. Dull. But you..well, I wasn't expecting any of this. I was taken out of my comfort zone and told to do things, and you aren't nearly as predictable as him. Of course, every human has certain predictable measures about themselves, but you're interesting, Azriel. Or do I call you A?" Light said smoothly, leaning forwards, letting his hair fall in his face, as he gazed into the corner where the camera was hidden. He was aware that he was perhaps overacting a little, but really, he was getting results, and that was all that mattered. Everyone who came from Wammy's had quirks after all.

"Better than even L. I wonder how he'd react..." A said and Light gave the camera his most charming smile and laughed.

"He'd probably hate it, the bastard." He may have disliked the language that Matt and Mello used, but he could hardly help when it came in handy. He was building a persona here, that was different to his own. He had to create contrasts.

There was a harsh laughter. "I like you, kid. You're honest about things."

It took all of Light's composure to not crack up laughing and wheezing on the floor at that statement. He really hoped that L appreciated the irony as much as he did. "Thank you, Azriel. However, I would prefer it if we took this meeting elsewhere? These handcuffs are rather uncomfortable."

"Nice try, kid. The handcuffs aren't coming off. But since you've been so interesting, how about a change in location. How would you like to see what it's like to be me?" came the voice and Light didn't need to fake the excitement and interest in his eyes.

"I'd love to!"

(X)

"I have to admit," Light said, as he was manhandled into a dimmed room filled with screens and working men and women wearing tinted glasses around him, "I did not expect this."

"What were you expecting?" asked the woman with a dark mask over her face that was painted with a vivid shade of maroon. She had short, brown hair and a rope burn all the way around her throat. It was red and vivid, and probably the reason her voice sounded so worn out. "A dark throne room filled with the skulls of my enemies?"

She wore a neat suit and a blue scarf that he supposed was the hide the rope burn. Evidently though, it was not working. She already had grey hairs, despite looking only around fifteen years older than Light.

"No, that would have been a little unrealistic," Light said, "But I was expecting something a little less...generic. It's a tad dull, if you ask me. I understand the importance of looking normal...but come on? Just a bit of villainish flare?"

He couldn't see the woman's face through the mask, but Light could tell that she was rolling her eyes. "Here I was...thinking that you were intelligent..."

Light interrupted. "Here I was thinking that you understood the importance of appearances. It's always best that you outwardly play up to stereotypes then turn around and completely abandon the so-called weaknesses of your 'side' of the game by reversing their expectations. This...this is just dull."

This time, Light was sure that she looked annoyed underneath the mask of hers. "You sound just like someone I used to know. This was a tribute to him, you know? This whole murder thing. It was his style before he went and got himself arrested, the fool. He was always on about style and character of the murders."

Light almost froze, because a person she was previously acquainted with, who loved murder and blood and gore...who'd recently been arrested...gods he hoped that L was listening, because Light had just solved the case. Though...he hadn't expected A to just hand him the answer on a platter.

"So, what's the price for that information?" Light asked casually. "I've pretty much solved the reason for motive now." Her acquaintance had once dismissed Mello's religion very badly. He recalled Roger saying that he had once attempted to burn down the church in Winchester. Catholics made sense...and well, of course it was linked to Mello. Light's instinct had somehow been correct.

The lady snapped her fingers and Light felt a kick to his stomach from one of the burly men around him. He crumpled, but didn't let any sound escape from his mouth. He wasn't letting her get that satisfaction.

Once he'd recovered his breath, Light looked up. "Really? You couldn't been anymore original? Getting the henchmen to beat me up? How boring. I'd have thought you'd be more innovative."

The woman clenched her fists. "You know, I was going to offer a gesture of friendship, a gesture for you to join my little circle of alliances, but you're really quite dull, if all you can do is insult people. Quite tiring really."

Light smirked as he tilted his head back. "You're stupid if you thought I would accept. My morals are too strongly fixed. And anyway, B was a maniac and Azriel is a criminal. Why would I join you?"

"Because I could help you beat L." she said and Light paused. That... was tempting.

**AN: Okay, so this is a short chapter, but I wanted to get some exposition about this case in and a bit of snark. The case will end in the next chapter, and we'll be back to shenanigans until the next (more interesting) case.**

**Okay, so go read my other fiction 'The Plot Bunny Menace', for a plausible Death Note OC and on Halloween, I'll be updating that with a Mikami/L meeting from L's POV for his birthday.**

**Because this chapter was short...have an Omake (that doesn't really apply to the story, and is probably not considered as canon plotline, but it's funny, so who cares?)**

**Omake**

_Meanwhile, back at Wammy's House..._

Mello frowned as he tapped the surface of the table. It had been two days since Light had vanished. The reports would be posted tomorrow. He would be second, since Light wasn't actually there. but still...second. Not first.

Mello frowned as he looked down at his hands. What was so different about him? Why was he so unable to become the best? He spent an extraordinary amount of time studying, more than all of the others put together yet, there was always something that tripped him up at the end. And Near and Light, with their 99s and 100, would always leave his 97 and 96s trailing behind in the dust.

Mello placed his head on the table. It wasn't what was different about him. It was about what was different about them. And that was easily answered. They had no emotions. Or, if they did, they were well hidden. Mello couldn't do that, when he was angry or when he was happy, the world would know. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and he couldn't hide it.

But...Mello knew that emotions were linked to the people around him. If he didn't know Near, he wouldn't be as angry. If he didn't know Matt, he wouldn't be as happy. The optimum solution would have been to move away from human contact, but Wammy's would never let that happen (though Near was trying his hardest to create his own isolation).

So...he'd have to forget them somehow. Memory loss however, was difficult to create. The only way to make this happen was lobotomy, or concussion. Lobotomy would be too expensive and needed parental consent (fat chance there) so concussion it is.

But Mello frowned, just hitting himself over the head would serve no purpose. And there was the chance that he'd forget why he was hitting himself over the head. Or just really, really badly hurt himself. A part of him told him how much of a bad idea this was. Another part of him wanted to win. That part won. As it always did.

So, he'd have to ask someone else to hit him over the head. Near was not a choice (the brat would probably take the chance to kick him out of the running by murdering him)and Linda would refuse, as would most of the other kids there, in fear of his retribution. Matt...well Matt had said that he would help Mello in mostly anything he asked for help in.

"Matt?" Mello asked, turning around. "Will you hit me over the head?"

To his credit, Matt didn't even look up at the odd request. "Why, did you do something particularly stupid?"

"No. I just want you to hit me over the head. For an experiment." Mello said. Matt sighed and put his game to the side.

"What, now?" he asked, his goggles reflecting the light coming in from the window behind Mello.

"No," Mello said absently, "Later. Once I've set up a proper experimentation facility."

"No," Matt said, "I think now is fine." With this, he grinned, almost demonically. Mello was suddenly struck with the fact that the only door out of their room was behind Matt.

"No Matt, it's an experiment, I can't- Oh god, what are you doing with that baseball bat? No, Matt. I wa- I was joking, it was just a joke. Oh god, put it down! What is this, some sort of revenge? I've only smashed three of your gaming devices in my temper! For god's sake Matt, put the stapler gun down!"

Matt laughed, almost hysterically. "Now now, Mels, don't take the Lord's name in vain..."

(X)

In the play room, Elpheba glanced up from where she was conjugating the mandarin verbs. There was some kind of sound coming from outside. There was a streak of black and yellow in the corridor, quickly followed by another streak of red, brown and black

"Linda?" she asked tentatively.

Linda looked up from where she was doing some logarithms. "What is it, Elpheba?"

"Was it just my imagination, or did Mello just run down the corridor screaming bloody murder, away from Matt of all people?" Elpheba asked.

Linda's face was stern. "No, it most definitely was not your imagination. I heard it too."

Elpheba laughed nervously. "Do you think Matt finally snapped and turned psychotic?"

Linda shook her head. "They'll be back to normal soon. The whole house is going crazy from the lack of Light exposure. Just ignore it."

Elpheba twitched a little. "Shouldn't we intervene? I think I saw a stapler gun in Matt's hands."

Linda put her pencil down and looked Elpheba in the eye. "Elpheba," she said finally, "Do you really want to get involved in that business? Think of how bad Matt is at physical activity and anything beyond his armspan and think about Mello's dodging ability and remorselessness. Think of your propensity as a human shield against flying staples. Now, ask yourself, do you want to get involved?"

Elpheba rapidly paled and shook her head ferociously. Linda smiled grimly. "I didn't think so. You've always been a sensible girl. Just stay out of it. The crazy will rapidly vanish once Light returns, you'll see."

****Elpheba sighed. "For all of our sakes, I really hope that you're right..."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Heirs to a Spider's Web**

**Chapter 6**

**AN: Thanks for all the feedback and kind words! If you like The Heirs to the Spider's Web, go read my other story, the Plot Bunny Menace, filled with tonnes of Death Note ficlets. It usually gets updated pretty often (more than this fic is updated, in any case. In 2 months, it accumulated 12 chapters.) Also, there's a lot of thinking in this chapter, and this is because one of the things I most admired about the original Death Note manga, was how you could really see Light's thought processes and plans unfold. It made him a more realistic and more sympathetic character. **

**Humming sequence is taken from HPatMOR and it belongs to Eliezer Yudkowsky. Beware of erratic tense changes and perspective changes.**

_Light smirked as he tilted his head back. "You're stupid if you thought I would accept. My morals are too strongly fixed. And anyway, B was a maniac and Azriel is a criminal. Why would I join you?"_

_"Because I could help you beat L." she said and Light paused. That... was tempting._

Thinking about it clearly though, Light had to frown. How could she help him? She was a criminal. Mind you, she was one of the best criminals in the world, with one of the largest networks in the world, but still. Light had no intentions of beating L through crime. That was not his prerogative. He was going to beat L, fair and square, where the whole world was a witness to L's defeat. That was Light's idea and Azriel wouldn't be able to help him achieve that.

"Hmmm, no thanks." He said, sounding as flippant as he could, "You're nice and all, but I don't really think that I could team up with someone so cliché. I relish in flare and you…you have none. Sorry. It was a nice deal, but I can't accept."

Her eyes bugged out and Light had to refrain from rolling his eyes. She wasn't original in the slightest. But then she straightened and inclined her head to the side. "Very well. Take him back to his cell. I wonder how long you can last without food, drink or company. I wonder which one will make you snap first?"

Light merely raised his eyebrows. "Slightly better but you're new to the process of having ideas. Frankly, as far as punishments go, that was pretty lame." Then he realised what he'd just said and swore inside his head. Shit. He'd just asked her to make his torture experience worse. Why the hell hadn't he just kept his mouth shut? He wondered how badly L was laughing.

Azriel had noticed his slip and laughed. "Cocky bastard, aren't you? How about this, no food and no water and no company and you'll be blinded and deaf?"

That was a drawback indeed, but Light didn't say anything, just shrugged and she motioned for him to be taken away. The blindfold was harshly wrested around his eyes and something that felt rather like modified headphones were shoved over his ears. It was slightly disorienting to be in pitch blackness and silence, but it didn't stop Light's though processes.

After all, his contact with L was one sided, and Light was still able to talk. He needed a rescue, and soon, because the human body can only survive without water for 24 hours, and Light had already been here without water for at least four hours. It meant that he had another twenty to hope that L would be able to rescue him. But where was Azriel's base?

From the room he'd seen, he had no clue, except that it was unlikely to be a third world country form the sheer amount of technology. The people in the room were a vast mix of cultures and race, so Light couldn't try and deduce country through that either. And even if he managed to narrow it down to country, where in the country was the base?

No, Light couldn't rely on meagre data assumptions and guess for a region. He needed an exact location. The only way that Light would be able to get that information, was if he were able to somehow escape (unlikely, seeing as he was presently incapacitated), persuade the guards to tell him (even more unlikely, since they were either motivated by fear or loyalty, and anyway, he was in isolation) or get access to Azriel on one of her lackeys' computers (perhaps the least likely of all).

So, somehow he needed to be put in a situation where accessing Azriel's computer would be likely to happen. A code that only Light could solve? Fat chance, Azriel was a Wammy's kid, she'd never let that get down to him. So something that would require Light being able to access the computer.

Think, think, think… Got it!

If he got L to threaten A about finding her base and that the only reason he wasn't blowing it up right now was that Light was there….

No, that required A believing that L had emotions. Screw that; that was impossible. But emotions were powerful things…and she'd talked about Beyond Birthday with something akin to affection, as close as Light could tell from her rough voice. If L used Beyond to get to A…

But that would be difficult. B, as far as Light was aware, had gone crazy and would be unwilling to help L and L would be unwilling to use him. To be fair though, if Light had a crazed imitator that wanted nothing more than to see him fail, Light was fairly certain he'd be unwilling to use that person in plans too.

Dammit, he needed a plan. He hated not having plans. He hated being at a disadvantage. Light wanted nothing more than to hit something, but throwing a temper tantrum would only be showing his weakness and how childlike he was. Right, thinking as Light wasn't working. So think like others.

Mello would hit stuff and get out by sheer blundering. But Mello would most likely get severely injured along the way. Light wasn't willing to risk that. And in any case, escaping his cell was all very well, but finding the nearest exit and hacking a computer before Azriel's cronies could catch up to him was going to be near impossible, especially with his only weapon being the blow dart pipe in his hair.

And really, what was he going to be able to do with a little bamboo stick barely larger than his index finger? He wasn't Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise or any of those other action heroes to be able to kung-fu his opponents down with little to no weapons. For one, the guards wouldn't even try to fight him close range. They'd shoot him point-blank and then Light would be put back into the cell, bleeding.

Matt…Matt's approach wasn't even worth thinking. Matt's approach would kill him, full stop. No way out of that.

Near…well, Near would probably have a panic attack first. Not the best idea, and a stage that Light would be happy to skip. Wait…no. That was it. He had to get out of the surveillance's eyes. Which meant that he had to be seen as someone who wasn't a threat. How could he do that? By pretending to go mad.

But, Light conceded, that would have to be a final resort, because it took far too long to implement. Going mad was a gradual thing and if Light started acting crazy immediately, she'd just be on an even higher alert. He'd have to wait at least two days before even trying the crazy strategy. And Light couldn't afford to lose two more days.

Near would then…. get himself out of the handcuffs secretively. Light really regretted cheating in that particular task now. He was hardly going to get the chance to sweet talk somebody when he was in isolation.

The problem with clever villains, were that they were too difficult to defeat. It made the story more interesting, but when it actually came to manoeuvering your way out, your only defense against them was time.

Which brought him to what Linda would do. Which was perhaps the best way to bide his time, until he became crazy. "Let's go for a ride, Azriel. Hmmmm…."

(X)

Humming? As psychological warfare? Unimaginable…right?

Think of humming. Nothing too serious, just a children's lullaby. Ring a roses, a pocket full of posies, a tisshoo, a tisshoo, we all fall down! It's a simple enough tune and pretty cheerful too. Sing it enough times, and the person listening is lulled into a false sense of security.

Then, you change the notes. One rendition of the phrase is agonizingly slow that the person listening to it is anticipating the next note to come. And when it does, it is so horrendously out of tune and so offputting, the listener will visibly cringe? That is not humming at all. That is war.

It is a war that Light had created to compete with Mello's god-awful racket that he liked to call music. Light knew that Mello could play an instrument well, after all, the moment that the teacher walked back into the room, Mello had a veritable symphony playing from his piano. But while he was practising, he inflicted torture upon the ears of the listeners.

Light's response had been to record the godawful humming and distortion of Latin songs and make copies of the tapes and play them everywhere that Mello tried to study, until Mello exploded in sheer fury and got kicked out. It was one of the better revenges that he and Near had coordinated after the curry incident.

Well, Light had never thought it would come in handy. He'd been humming and doing this for several hours straight (he couldn't keep count and hum) and he wasn't about to concede any time soon. He knew that Azriel was watching. She'd never turn off the camera, because who knew what he might do once the camera was off, and she wouldn't turn off the sound either, because who knew when Light would break? No, she would be sitting and listening to this and she would be in pain. And the thought of this made Light smile as he started another phrase of Ring a Ring a Roses, after a rather prolonged pause that would have only served as false hope.

…the fact that L would be forced to listen to this for the same reasons, was just icing on the cake.

(X)

The first thing that Light knew was that his ear-things were ripped off. "Shut up, you little brat!" came the gruff, stressed voice of someone very tall.

"But sir, how else do I keep myself entertained? You'd hardly want me to put my mind towards escaping, would you?" asked Light, cheekily, an unwilling smile coming onto his face.

"You!" he could feel air in front of his face and something being stopped. Light assumed that someone had tried to hit him and had been stopped.

"Now now, no abusing the prisoner. He'll break by himself in time without physical injury." Came the smooth tone of someone who sounded younger. Dammit, Light hated having this blindfold. Voices were so easily faked, but parts of your appearance weren't.

But, the new voice had just given him valuable information. Azriel expected him to break. Now, he just needed to portray the descent into madness convincingly enough that it would fool Azriel and not make L panic. Bother, he needed to tell L to not worry. There was no way he was going to achieve both.

Hmmm, which meant that he needed a code that would seem normal as part of falling apart. That was easy.

"No more humming!" came the first gruff voice, snapping Light out of his plotting reverie.

"Fine then. Spoilsport!" Light said, sounding as petulant as he possibly could. "What's the time?"

"Like we'd tell you." came the second voice smoothly. Light almost scowled but smiled serenely.

"Very well. Have a nice day! Toodles!" he chirped. He could almost feel the stares being directed towards him.

Right then, try and act unnerved. "1 elephant, 2 elephant, 3 elephant…." He mouthed under his breath, just loud enough to be heard.

He'd gotten up to 20,000 elephants before he was bold enough to make his movement. Without changing his tone of voice or pace, Light started speaking his code as nonchalantly as possible.

"1 elephant, 13 elephant, 0 elephants, 14 elephants, 15 elephants, 20 elephants, 0 elephants, 18 elephants, 5 elephants, 1 elephant, 12 elephants, 12 elephants, 25 elephants, 0 elephants, 3 elephants, 18 elephants, 1 elephant, 26 elephants, 25 elephants, 0 elephants, 9 elephants, 0 elephants, 8 elephants, 1 elephant, 22 elephants, 5 elephants, 0 elephants, 1 elephant, 16 elephants, 12 elephants, 1 elephant, 14 elephants, 0 elephants, 11 elephants, 5 elephants, 5 elephants, 16 elephants, 0 elephants, 14 elephants, 5 elephants, 20 elephants, 23 elephants, 15 elephants, 18 elephants, 11 elephants. 20,001 elephants, 20,002, elephants…"

It was a simple code, but Light was counting on it going undetected by Azriel. Just keep counting before you have your psychotic breakdown. Just keep counting….

(X)

Light was starting to think that if he stayed here any longer, he'd have an actual psychotic breakdown. The blackness was feeling rather oppressive and the lack of sleep was getting to him. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep, but who knew what he might miss? No, he had to stay awake and not get left behind.

All Light could hear was his relentless counting. He wondered whether Azriel was getting bored yet. No, he had to set his plan into action now. He was at 100,000, it was best to stop now anyway.

Now, falter. Stop. Clutch the ground in agony. "Azriel, let me out. Or, at least, talk to me. I'm so bored. And the walls of blackness aren't helping. Please, Azriel!"

He can't hear anything, he can only hope that Azriel is actually laughing in his face. The last thing he needs is for Azriel to relent and still consider him a threat. He needs to be seen as helpless, he must be the Trojan horse, the sign that the enemy has given up. He'd scoffed at the Trojans when he'd read the Iliad, calling them food and idiots for not doubting that their enemy of ten years had suddenly just given up, but now, he was Odysseus, and he was relying on the inherent stupidity of humankind.

Light pretend to cry and sticks his face to the floor so it cannot be revealed for the laughter that it is. He could only hope that Azriel didn't remember the logic lessons from Wammy's House. Because the first thing on the list was to not fall for what the enemy wants you to think.

Light appealed to the floor and attempted to try and pray, from what meagre details he could remember from the church ceremony he'd seen one Sunday. "Oh Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us… forgive us our trespasses! Forgive lord, for I have sinned! Absolve me and save me! Lord, it doesn't have to be through L! Anybody! Please father, don't leave me here!" He cried, looking towards where he presumed the sky was.

This was quite fun, acting to be someone he wasn't. Certainly interesting, creating a madman.

After a while, Light could start to feel his throat parch up a little. "Water," he croaked. "Oh father, you made Jesus endure without food and water in the desert for 40 days, but Father, I am weak. I cannot. I failed all of those tests. Please, give me Manna as you gave to Moses and the Israelites…"

Light was also impressed by how much he'd remembered about biblical events. He hadn't really paid that much attention during religious studies, only taking the course, because a basic courteous knowledge of other cultures was certainly required to be as polite as you could be. After all, Light had no intention of being as rude as L had been. It was also a motive in some murders and hate crimes, but that was a less likely factor than sex, money and power.

"Ave maria, gratia plena, dominus, tecum, benedict tatu." Light chanted. "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death!"

Now, for the piece de resistance. How would Azriel appreciate the contempt that he'd had for L being demolished in his plight? Not too much, he reckoned.

"L, help me! Please! Come and get me! I know I'm just a Watari, but please!" he begged, as if talking to thin air. "No L, don't walk away! Please don't walk away! No! Mr. Wammy, please! I didn't do anything wrong! I just wanted to learn! I didn't mean to! Please, give me on more chance! Don't leave me here in the dark again!"

He tried to gesture and walked into what he presumed was a wall and fell backward and started to rock backwards and forwards in a foetal position. "1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17…" Prime numbers now, up until 1000.

"See, I can do it, I can remember all of them even under pressure. Please don't leave me here L! I'm not your successor, but I'm a reusable pawn! You can use me again! Please! I can't bear it! I can't bear being alone! I know that I said that you were awful, but I was bitter! Please, I can do better!"

Damn, he was starting to loathe himself for being so useless. But, he needed to come off as being unable to pose a threat. Much to his annoyance. Light started fake-crying again and listing off Fibonacci numbers now, with names of staff at Wammy's House and pleas for help inbetween.

He wondered how far to take it. Where do you stop with madness? He thought that a quivering wreck would be difficult to get to, but he could sure try.

"Mother, please don't go! I didn't mean to kill Daddy! I didn't want to! It just happened! And he was hurting you! And I couldn't deal with it! Please don't leave me!" More appealing to thin air. Brilliant.

Now to think of something that would anger himself. Well, if the father was trying to kill the mother… "You!" Stand up and shout and hope that you aren't under anything. You aren't.

"How could you hurt Mummy! Why did she hate me for killing you when all you did was hurt her and fill her with hate? Don't laugh at me! Don't you dare laugh! I'll come and kill you again!"

Flail. Collapse. Laugh, as madly as you can, sound positively insane. Now, flail a bit more and –crack!

Ouch, that had hurt a lot more than Light would have expected. But anyway, the sound had been more than enough to be convincing enough that he had knocked himself out. Now, once he 'woke up', he'd have to act delusional. Would monsters do? Or would it have to be more subtle?

More subtle seemed the thing to be here, who knew how suspicious Azriel might already be by his quick deterioration. So, he needed to start hallucinating that he was afraid of something…but what? What was Light afraid of? Failure. Obviously. But Light needed a more translatable fear.

Not darkness, not insects. Not heights, not water. Monsters and ghosts were just stupid. Not small spaces, but not open spaces either. Those kinds of fears would make him a liability. Rejection? Sure, he'd pretty much already established that. But he'd already exhausted those options. He'd had L, Watari, his parents and the teachers at Wammy's reject him and he'd broken down. Really, Light would have liked to have observed a bunch of 'mad' people before ever trying to pull off a stunt like this from the top of his head.

Maybe not a fear then. Too difficult to pull off. But what kind of hallucinations were 'reasonable'? Light had grown up thinking hallucinations in general were unreasonable. Light hated having brain freezes. But, it wasn't exactly like he was short on ti—

The door was opening. He could hear the scratching. Light made sure that his breath was even and that his limbs were slack.

"I can't believe … actually wants us ….okay." Said a voice, muffled through the earmuffs.

"Look, she wants him nuts, not dead, okay!? If he killed himself, he's no use to us. We have to see if he knows anything about L's movements." Voice 2 interjected, rather a lot louder than the previous voice.

Light found it rather stupid of the two guards to be talking here. If he had guards, he'd make sure that they never disclosed important information in front of the prisoner, be they unconscious or conscious. But, as Napoleon had once said, never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. In hindsight, Light wished he'd remembered that earlier. Then, he'd actually be able to see them and properly hear their voices beyond a muffled sensation.

He could feel them bending down over him. "He's alive. And he isn't bleeding either, so is unlikely to die soon." He heard the second voice say loudly. Most likely to Azriel's camera surveillance of him.

Then, to Light's surprise, he felt his body being lifted off the ground. Keeping especial care to keep his muscles slack, Light let his head loll. This was unexpected. Where were they taking him? Why were they taking him out of his cell when he wasn't actually injured? This was…annoying. Well, it wasn't; that floor had been uncomfortable, but it meant that he'd have to readjust his plans depending on where he was being taken.

Dammit, Light hated having to make unexpected changes to nice plans.

He felt his ear things being taken off and his eye mask also being pulled off. "Hey nurse, he's got an awful lump of the back of his head. Is that something that's going to cause brain damage?"

He did? How come he hadn't been able to tell? He had hit his head when he'd been flailing, but surely, not enough for it to swell? Perhaps that had been the cause for his brain freeze? Shoot, this wasn't good. If his thinking processes were incapable of working properly, he was never getting out of here.

"Nothing too severe. I'll keep him in here for a while though. He doesn't look great in general! What did you do to him? He'd just a kid, bless." said a woman's voice.

"Azriel's orders. The kid's with L. So don't slack out on security, okay?" said the first voice.

"Oh, honestly, I'm not stupid. Do undo his handcuffs. How am I going to treat him if he can't even lie on his front?" said the woman's voice again, sounding exasperated.

Hmm, this was turning out better than expected. No handcuffs, no eyemask, no ear-thingies. Almost like they were setting up the fact that he would escape. Light sighed. Now he was suspicious and annoyed, because Azriel had set up the perfect dilemma. If the opportunity came to escape, Light would most likely take it. But this was too easy, and Light knew it. Therefore, it was only logical that there would be some kind of trap. But then, Azriel could also be assuring that Light wouldn't escape by making this look like it was the set-up for a trap.

Light almost groaned. Gods, he now hated facing down against someone who had studied the same things as he had. Well, he'd hated it from the beginning, but now it was even worse. He needed to seize the opportunity. He wasn't going to sit here and miss an opportunity to send out a message to L about their location. If it was a trap, it was a trap. It wasn't like Light was actually going to connect to L's private network. Just leave a vague clue in Wammy's minor database so Matt would find it and transmit it to L.

Light wasn't a fool after all, even if his thought processes were a little clouded. The woman still hadn't come back, but Light didn't dare open his eyes or make any kind of movement other than breathing. Not yet. Not until she comes back into the room. He needs to put Azriel at ease.

There, footsteps. Wait a little bit to not make it too suspicious. She pottering around, he can hear a lot of clattering. "Urrgh…" Light groans a little and blinks his eyes open.

He's in a bright hospital room, in a bed. He isn't held down by anything and there are three cameras trained on his movements. The woman is holding what looks like sedative and Light whimpers. He's not actually scared, but the persona of him has to be rather pathetic and he's supposed to be half mad.

"No…no more needles. Please, I can't …I don't like…" He murmurs pathetically and does the best acting he's done yet. There, he's afraid of needles. Easily created. Simple to think of, when you didn't feel like shit. Well, Light still felt like shit, and would welcome his clothes and a proper shower, but he felt better now, without handcuffs.

"Oh you poor dear! How old are you?" cooed the nurse. She's a lot older than expected. Good, maybe he can play the role of pathetic little child better this way.

"Thirteen," he mutters. He's aged himself a little, but not to the age that he'd lied with before. No sympathy would come for an eighteen year old and he'd get too much sympathy for being 11.

"Oh, you poor child. I wonder why Azriel put you in jail." She says, as she feels his head. He feels slightly warmer than usual, and by her frown, he has a fever. Bother, that wasn't going to help either. "Look at you. You're all beaten up and ill. Here, stay here, I'll get you some medicine." She tutted, as she bustled out of the door.

Light stayed where he was. Her computer wasn't logged in, so there would be no use trying to get to it. In any case, he had three cameras watching his every movement. Not yet. Patience was a virtue.

"Okay, here we go. This should help. Open wide." Being spoon-fed some medicine like he was five years old was humiliating, but what could he do? There, she'd logged into her computer, The password was ichigo78, which made Light wonder both about her nationality or whether she was just a fan of manga.

Now she was…checking her emails? While Light was just lying here. Not that Light was going to complain but Azriel really had some very incompetent people. Now, she was going out again, now, move!

Light darted out of the bed, quickly. He typed the password into the computer and quickly turned to Google maps. Brno, Czech Republic, in an underground facility near Spilberk castle. He quickly grabbed the latitude and longitude numbers and went to the Wammy's website and started to hack into the code. He knew that Azriel's people were coming soon, so he worked pretty sloppily in pasting the numbers everywhere he could find them.

Just to be sure, he said the numbers aloud. L would definitely pick up on that, even if he couldn't get online. He heard a noise by the door and turned around.

The nurse was back, she was staring at his fingers tapping away at the computer in a slight look of betrayal. And there was sedative in her hands. In what looked like a large, sharp needle. Light wasn't afraid of needles, not at all, but he was rather afraid of the way that she was brandishing it like a knife. She charged at him and Light ran for the door but couldn't quite work the mechanism and there was a very sharp sensation in his leg that was very, very painful—

(X)

Light wakes up with a groan. All of him aches and he has no idea where he is. It's a white room and there seems to be a bright open window, but other than that, Light's pretty fuzzy on the details. All he knows is that his head hurts like a bitch.

"Hello?" he calls out.

"You're awake, Light-kun." said a dry sardonic tone. Light turned around to see L coming into the room, clutching a large strawberry sundae.

At L's appearance, Light's memory of the past few days flooded back and Light groaned. "No shit, Sherlock. What the hell happened after the crazy nurse assaulted me?"

"I contacted the Czech police and they stormed the place almost immediately and took everybody into custody. They were trying to escape, but that was easily prevented. They also found you in high security prison covered in chains and pretty much unable to do anything. You're welcome, Light-kun."

"You didn't do shit. I should be thanking the police." Light said, as he pushed himself upright. He was wearing some blue pyjamas that were three sizes too big for him. He looked uncomfortably like Near for his liking. He'd have to get some of his own clothes when he felt like he could actually walk.

"Language, Lucifer-kun." He said, suddenly switching back to Light's nickname. "Though, I can't deny that you did an excellent job. You brought down the entire Azriel crime ring with one fell swoop and did so without revealing too much about this whole investigation, despite the injuries upon your person."

That was perhaps the closest that Light would get to actual praise about his abilities, Light knew.

"You got the code, right?" Light asked, weakly. "The one about me not being crazy?"

"Yes, otherwise, I have no doubt that I would have several questions for you right about now." L said, as he perched on the chair next to Light's bed. "Though I must admit, you had me a little worried for a moment when you started counting."

"The great L, worried? Surely not?" Light asks, teasing L a little. It isn't his best effort, he doesn't feel at the top of his form, at all.

"You might be a little surprised, Lucifer-kun, but I do have some emotions." L said, looking annoyed.

"What are you going to do about A?" asked Light, as he smoothed out his hair.

"Put her in prison too. But in a different correctional facility from that of B's." L said, looking a little bothered, as he chewed through a strawberry.

"So, what now? Do I just go back to Wammys House and pretend that nothing happened?" asked Light, switching topics quickly. L didn't react, this was part of their little game as genii. If you couldn't keep up, you weren't worthy of being a genius.

"Yes." he uttered, not even changing his facial expression.

"How….boring." Light said, rolling his eyes. "I thought since I'd solved that case very nicely, I'd get some nice cushy job as a Watari."

"I don't actually have multiple Wataris, Lucifer-kun. That was a story that we'd made up for this case." L said, rolling his eyes, as he licked his spoon clean of ice-cream.

"It makes sense though, doesn't it? Having several proxies. You could do that and no one would know. It's not like anyone actually knows who Watari is. And Mr. Wammy is getting rather old." Light said, "Anyway, just going back to learning would be dull."

"Tough luck. I am not hiring you as Watari. You are 11, Lucifer-kun, you cannot work for me by the ruling laws of most civilized countries. This was a one-time job." L admonishes.

Light sighs and attempts to push himself out of bed. It doesn't work. "Any reason why I can't feel my legs and arms?"

"You've been given a very large dose of painkillers. I have a feeling that if you weren't on them, you wouldn't be able to say much or even think." L informed Light, as he still continued to eat his sundae. "They did quite a number on you after you were knocked unconscious by the nurse. I think at one point, eight people were kicking you?"

Light wanted nothing more than to rip the spoon out of L's hands and throw the sundae at his face for having such a nonchalant tone, but that would be childish, and you couldn't have that, could you? Light was dignified, always, even in his pain.

"Lucifer-kun, you refused A's offer. I was curious as to why." L said, going straight to the point.

"Why? Because I have a better chance of beating you out by being your successor at Wammy's than I ever would under her command. In any case, she has no creativity, like I said to her, no flare or passion for what she's doing. And I fight crime, I don't perpetrate it." Light answered easily. "It's not like you to get skittish about things as trivial as this. I was under your command on a case. I'm not likely to just switch sides inbetween, after she'd murdered so many." The unsaid between them, that Light trusted L a lot and wasn't going to betray him. Yet.

L's lips quirked at the side of his mouth, but his expression didn't change otherwise. "Thank you, Light-kun." The unsaid there was that he was grateful for Light's support in his time of uncertainty.

And just like that, Light had added a tally to his scoreboard of his game with L. 15 all, advantage to Light.

(X)

"Light!" Linda exclaimed, as Light limped back through the hallway of Wammy's House along with Mr. Wammy later that evening. L had told him that he'd been on the mission for four days now, so Light had been expecting something like this.

"Hello Linda. Can you help me get this bag back to my room?" said Light, leaning heavily down on his temporary walking stick. His entire body ached from just the stress of walking from the car outside the gates to inside the House.

"What the hell happened? You were gone for four days! No explanation either!" she asked, quickly acquiescing to Light's request.

"Long story short, L and Azriel happened." Light said darkly. "I'll tell you and Near tomorrow during morning study time. It's a pretty long story and I'm exhausted."

"Better not tell Mello that." Linda said, with a slight chuckle. "That L was involved."

"Maybe I will tell him. Maybe he'll stop being so obsessed with trying to beat everyone if he knows that his goal involves getting beaten up several times and thinking clearly through a fever, a swollen head and over 48 hours without sleep ." Light snapped, a little as he climbed the stairs.

"Yeesh, are you going to be okay for tomorrow?" asked Linda, looking concerned as they finally reached Light's room.

"Who knows? We'll meet it when it happens. For now," said Light, unlocking his room, "I'm going to bed. Night Lin."

"Night, Light. Don't let the bed bugs bite."


	7. TAIKUTSU - SHORT STORY

**Taikutsu**

**AN: In honour of the death of a genius….**

**Here's Light as a shinigami for his deathday. It's been done, but I think I have a slightly new plan of action for him. Heck, Light's an optimist! And he's the ruler of a new world! He never specified which world….**

**I'm posting this on Heirs To The Spiders Web because it's a promo for my other story, The Plot Bunny Menace, which has tonnes of stories like this! Also, I thought you may want something to read during the long wait for the next chapter, which probably won't be coming until I have time to write again(which is almost never). Enjoy~!**

20 seconds to go….He didn't want to die…He was god! He was the god of this new world! He didn't want to—

(X)

The moment that Light opened his eyes and saw the world around him, he knew that Ryuk had lied about the afterlife. He felt like screaming, but Light knew that that would be a waste of energy and time. He picked himself up off the ground and looked around him. The world around him was desolate and tinged an almost orange colour.

Light looked down at his hands. Normal and unstained by blood. He looked down at himself and frowned a little. He was wearing his school shirt and the green jumper that Sayu had bought him for his 16th birthday. He also wore his usual fitted trousers, though he was lacking shoes and socks. He placed a hand to his face. No blood. In fact, there weren't even any scars, like the ones he had gained from constantly fighting with L. Actually, every part of him was smaller and younger. Light presumed that it was his body before he'd picked up the Death Note, if he was wearing this green jumper. He looked up and around him.

To the distant east seemed to be a lot of caves and rock formations. To the south were large black shapes sticking out of the ground, covered in what seemed to be metal from their glint. The rest of the area was desolate and covered in sand. Light himself was on the top of a large, reddish, rock plateau. He thumped the ground. It felt firmly solid underneath him.

"Ryuk…?" Light asked, looking around for his near constant companion for the past six years.

"I'm impressed. Your first word in a new world and it's my name. I'm very honoured." came a voice from above him and Light looked up. Ryuk landed on the ground with a thump and grinned at Light, munching on a juicy red apple.

"You lied." Light said, calmly. It seemed obvious in death, that shouting would do nothing. He was in a foreign world and Ryuk was his only guide. Angering his guide this early in the new game would be foolhardy.

"I did. Well, not exactly. Every human when they die, go to Mu. But if a user of the Death Note is killed by the Death Note, they end up here."

"Here, being the shinigami realm?" asked Light, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's right." Ryuk said, chuckling.

"So that's how shinigami are born. Curious. Tell me though, will I run into Higuchi and Takada here?" asked Light, as a terrible thought occurred to him. After all, they'd been users of the Death Note and he had killed them both with the Death Note….

"Yes." Ryuk said, chuckling madly.

Light frowned. "By that laugh, you're omitting some information. Tell me what I'm missing."

Ryuk laughed even further, almost coughing and Light sighed a little. No apples to bribe the shinigami with…it looked like he would have to wait until the shinigami calmed down.

"They're missing their memories," Ryuk said, smirking a little. "You're very lucky in that I managed to persuade the shinigami king to not wipe your memories. They can't remember a thing about the human realm."

Light nodded, that was good news for him. If either Takada or Higuchi had been able to remember him, that would have been terrible. The last thing he needed were revenge-filled shinigami with Death notes after hi—Death Note.

"Ryuk, if I'm a shinigami now, do I get a Death Note automatically?" Light asked, pressing a finger to his face.

"Nope. You have to kill someone more powerful than you in some way before you can get a notebook from the Old Man." Ryuk said, quite nonchalantly.

"Old Man?" asked Light, a plan already formulating in his head.

"The shinigami King. He's a pain to deal with, though. If he likes you, he'll make you play a game with him before giving you a Death Note." Ryuk said, rolling his eyes. Light was pretty sure that Ryuk hadn't done that before. Clearly, he'd been picking up mannerisms from Matsuda.

"So, does he make Death Notes, or does he have a ready supply of Death Notes to give to shinigami?' asked Light, as he leant back.

Ryuk shrugged as he finished the apple core. "Haven't a clue."

Light suppressed his growl. Typical. Was Ryuk just permanently useless? "Is there anyone who would know?" asked Light, forcing a smile that felt more like a grimace unto his face.

"Sure. Armonia Justin is the second ranked shinigami and he actually cares about rules and the like. He might help you." Ryuk said.

"Might." Light stated and Ryuk shrugged.

"Well, I don't claim to know his mind." he said and Light sighed.

"I just can't count on you, can I?"

"Nope." Ryuk said, smirking, "I persuaded the king to let you keep your memories because I would be bored otherwise. If I just told you everything, it would get boring."

Well, at least, Ryuk didn't change. Still, it brought up the interesting question of whether Ryuk had ever been human. By his appearance, it certainly didn't seem to be the case.

"Come on then, Ryuk, take me to this Armonia Justin person." Light said, looking bored, "Where does he live, anyway?"

Ryuk merely pointed towards the south and Light sighed. "How do we get there? It's not like this rock has handholds so I can climb down."

Ryuk chuckled and outstretched his wings. "Just fly, idiot." Ryuk launched off the rock and Light scowled.

"Just fly? I DON'T HAVE WINGS!" Light yelled back at Ryuk. He could hear Ryuk's laughter as he flew off into the distance. Just to check, Light stretched behind him and groped at his back. No sign of wings. Nope, Ryuk was just being facetious. But, what reason would Ryuk have to lie to him? That was stupid, obviously entertainment. Ryuk would find it entertaining to watch Light flail.

Still….he was already dead. Couldn't hurt. All birds instinctively knew how to fly, even if they couldn't tell they had wings. And Light had always wanted to be able to fly. To be as free as a bird, with no obligations and the power to stand on his own two feet, yet still be able to survey the world around him…It appealed to him a lot.

Light gazed down off the edge of the rock plateau. It was a long drop. It gave him more time to figure this whole flying thing out. Light took in a deep breath and threw himself off the edge.

Light didn't scream, that was undignified, but merely willed his wings to open as the ground zoomed closer and clos—

Light breathed a sigh of relief as he started gliding forwards instead of falling. He looked behind him and saw a pair of silvery-grey tendon-like wings extended out of his back, as if they'd always been there. Light shook his head and followed the black speck in the distance. Once he felt more comfortable with the feeling of soaring, Light willed himself to be faster so that he could catch up with Ryuk.

Feeling the wind across his face and the sheer freedom, Light let out a whoop of excitement as he twisted mid-air. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He might have been dead, but he was in a new world. A world, that according to Ryuk was filled with lazy ingrates who had no idea of their purpose…. Well, Light planned to change that fairly soon. It would be more difficult without the media to help him spread his name, but he was sure that overthrowing the shinigami king would be more than enough than to get him recognized.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?' asked Ryuk, looking amused as Light caught up to him.

"Of course. How many humans have spent their entire lives dreaming of this of this sensation? And yet, I am the first to achieve this state. Why wouldn't I be happy?" Light explained.

"You aren't human anymore, though, Light." Ryuk said, letting one of his eyebrows rise. "To be honest, you've never acted much like a human. More like a shinigami from the first. That's why I stuck around."

Light rolled his eyes. "Why do I care about that? It matters more about what I think, than what I'm technically classified as. And I've always felt human."

"The ultimate optimist, aren't you? Even after you failed? You are very interesting, Light." Ryuk commented, as they neared the metal structures.

"Of course I am. I told you, I couldn't have even imagined a new world free of crime and bad people without being an optimist. And I didn't lose. I retreated and am trying a new technique to achieve what I need to. The moment I get a Death Note, don't think I'm going to become like the rest of the people here. I plan to upheave this world. Will you help me?" Light said, coldly.

"I'll help for as long as it interests me." Ryuk said and Light smirked.

"That's fine by me." If Light had his way, he wouldn't need the wayward and frankly, unreliable shinigami for much longer.

"Here we are." Ryuk said, as he descended downwards towards a large area filled with chains and other rusty metal remnants of a civilization. It only served as making Light wonder about what the shinigami world had previously been. And there, in the corner, hiding underneath the shade of a large looming metal piece was the shinigami.

He lounged in his throne, his body made entirely of precious metal and jewels. There was what looked like a white notebook next to him and he looked bored.

"So Ryuk, we have a new shinigami. Shouldn't you be taking him to the King so he can get his notebook?" asked the shinigami. His voice sounded as brittle and cold as the jewels he was made of.

"Actually, I requested the detour. What can you tell me about the Shinigami King's powers and abilities?" Light said, turning on the charm as he always did.

The shinigami's eyes glinted. "And why should I help you..?"

"Kira. My name is Kira. And I have been told that you know everything about the rules of this world and about everybody in the realm. And I wish to change the hopelessness that has pervaded the shinigami realm for so long. I changed my world, I intend to give the shinigami their purpose back." Light said, standing straighter and gesturing boldly as he had not been able to before. Kira was feared, loathed and revered in the human realm. Here, Light intended there to only be one of those connotations associated with his name.

"From the seat of the Shinigami king? You intend to kill him to gain your notebook." said Armonia Justin.

"Yes, that is correct. I will not ask for your help in defeating him, merely for the information that will help me kill him." said Light. "Please."

"Give me something." Armonia said, "Something valuable to you. And then I will be your ally in your venture, in every way."

Light blinked. Something valuable to him…his wits? No, that was something he would never give away. Why had it even crossed his mind as a possibility? Without his wits and his smarts, he was nothing. "I have nothing. Nothing that I can give away so easily, in any case."

"But you do. Those wings of yours, they are not valuable to you?" asked Ryuk, smirking, as he leant back against one of the chains, chomping on what looked like a rotten and mouldy apple.

Light sneered at him before sighing. He did need that Armonia Justin's help….Light shut his eyes tightly. Was he willing to give up that sheer happiness of flight for a new shinigami world with purpose?

He'd done it before. He'd given up his life, his soul, his heart and his mind to the cause of Kira. And he was going to do it again, he already knew that. His happiness in trade for a new world. Would he do that for all eternity? May this attempt to reach godhood end happier.

"Very well, Armonia Justin. Take my wings and in return, you will tell me everything that I ask for." Light said, opening his eyes, again.

The bejeweled shinigami looked surprised. "You're dedicated to this aren't you? You have no hope of beating the shinigami King. He's been here forever. He supports this entire world. When he dies, so does this whole realm."

Light growled. "It is not your place to worry about that! I am the one who shall kill him. You just take my wings, then tell me what I need to know!"

Armonia nodded. "Come forward then. Let me remove those pretty little things…"

(X)

Light breathed deeply as he stood outside the black cave. It was darker than the rest of the realm and Light could hear water dripping inside.

"This as far as you'll come with me, Ryuk?" asked Light, as he circled his fingers around his wrist. There was no longer the scar tissue from where he had been chained to L, but it still had a twinge of phantom pain.

"Sure, come back out when you're king." said Ryuk, pretending to yawn.

Light rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

With that, he walked into the cave. Light looked up as Armonia had told him to and kept his face schooled into bored nonchalance. But, what a sight! What he could see of the King, was already triple the size of Ryuk! But size was nothing. No, what mattered, was Light's speed and his brains. If he kept his wits about him, he'd be fine.

"You're the shinigami king?" asked Light.

"That is correct. You are the former human Light Yagami?" asked the deep voice.

"Also correct." Light said, sternly.

"You have…come to kill me?" asked the shinigami King. "It is not the first time that someone has tried to do that. I'm afraid that you will not succeed."

"I have no intention of killing you. The only way that a shinigami can kill is with their Death Note; this, Ryuk told me a long time ago. If I kill you with my hands now, I weaken myself later, instead of dying instantly like other shinigami that already have Death Notes. No, I have no intention of killing you." Light said, taking a seat on the cold hard floor. "I've heard that you like a good game. So do I, and it's been a while since I've played a good one. It'll pass the time in any case."

The King paused. "So you have talked with Armonia Justin."

"Yes." Light said, "I wanted to know if the rules were different for shinigami using the Death note and humans using the Death Note, and Ryuk was useless on that aspect."

"You are lying. A very well said lie, but a lie nonetheless." uttered the shinigami king and Light sighed.

"You will not play? It will be a boring few hundred years, then." Light said, looking nonchalant and somewhat depressed.

"A few hundred years? You really are a very confident human, Light Yagami. How do you know that I won't just kill you?"

Light examined his fingernails, feeling a little bored. "You can't kill me with your Death Note because I'm a shinigami, not a human, and shinigami can't die with their names in the notebook. And you can't kill me with your own hands, a rule that you yourself set in place. If you break it, the shinigami realm will collapse."

"You are very bright, aren't you? Very well Yagami, let's play a game. I think, a game of succession would do. An older one. Seiryuu Gazamo vs Thierry Morello for the title of Best Con Artist. You shall play as Thierry. Prepare yourself."

"Wait, what?" asked Light before he was plunged into the suffocating white light…

(X)

The first thing that Light thought about, as he drifted through the unconscious stream, was that the name Thierry Morrello was the conman Aiber's real name. Light had killed him. That was confusing and a glaring problem, because if Morrello was dead, how was he playing a game with him…?

And what the hell was 'succession' anyway? How the hell did you even begin to try and define what the hell was going o-

Suddenly, Light felt a jerk on his spiritual self. It was like a shackle adjusting to his back and Light gasped at the sheer pain of the shackle's weight. Suddenly, it all disappeared, and Light was left suspended in the unconscious stream, the only sign that anything had happened, a silver chord that extended from Light's back downwards. Light tugged at it, warily. Nothing happened, so Light followed the cord downwards, against the current of the white fog until he reached a very familiar blonde human. The cord disappeared above Aiber's head.

Aiber currently appeared to be talking with an attractive brunette who was wearing a very skimpy dress. Light reiterated that fact, Aiber was flirting with her and very subtly, scoping for information. He could see that she slowly, slowly seemed to be giving Aiber information about the company that she worked for, despite her initial distrust of this younger Aiber.

He was good. Almost better than Light at twisting with her emotions. The moment that he finished, he walked away from her towards the bathroom. Much to Light's annoyance, he was forced to follow because of the stupid bond. The moment that Aiber reached the bathroom, Light tried to talk to him.

"Hello?" Light said. Aiber did nothing, just adjusted his hair and started scribbling on his notebook. Light peered at the notebook, but it only seemed to be the information that he had gathered. "There's no one here, you know. You can respond to me."

Aiber ignored him and Light punched him. His hand went straight through Aiber. Aiber didn't even react. Brilliant. He was stuck with someone who didn't even know he was here. What was he even doing here? A game of succession indeed, what the hell did that mean?

Still, if Light was stuck to Aiber, then the shinigami King would be stuck with the other man, Seiryuu Gazamo, Aiber's rival for the title of con-artist? That made slightly more sense. So what was he supposed to do. Then it hit him. Aiber was in the middle of that contest. Light's job was to help Aiber win. The problem, was figuring out how to do that.

How do you help someone who can't see you or even sense you? Light sighed and tugged at the cord. "This is so stupid."

Then he blinked as Aiber mimicked his posture and parroted his words. Then Aiber stopped, looked fairly confused and went back to write. Light grinned. He wouldn't test this now, but he had to do it later. This…was going to be very funny.

x

"I'm an idiot." Aiber mumbled as he slapped himself in his sleep. Light unwound himself from the white wire he had wrapped around himself. Once the connecting wire was tied around Light's chest, whatever Light did, Aiber mimicked. This…this was so much fun! Light hadn't particularly interacted with the cocky conman, but from what interactions Light had had with the man, he'd severely disliked Aiber.

Of course, the testing time had to be when Aiber wasn't awake and to Light's delight, he could make Aiber do anything, even when Aiber was sleeping. This would be useful. He could make Aiber say anything and do whatever Light was doing. And all he had to do to hand the power back to Aiber was to duck out of the wire loop.

Suddenly, Aiber's phone rang and the man woke up, cutting Light's experimentation short. Light frowned and listened in. He blinked just a little at the japanese voice introducing himself as Gazamo Seiryuu. That was easy. A contest to see who could pull off the best con to the world. Aiber seemed reluctant but once Gazamo made a subtle threat, Aiber agreed, rolling his eyes. Gazamo ended with a statement about plane tickets and seeing Aiber in Paris in eight hours. They were currently in the West Indies.

"Well, shit. I'm screwed." Aiber said, sighing, as he started to pack. Light had to agree.

x

The challenge was given to Aiber in an art gallery, where the two of them sat and pretended to not know who the other was. Whomever who get the most money from the most amount of people without drawing undue attention to themselves won. Of course, Light knew that here and Aiber had a disadvantage. The Shinigami king was the driving force behind Gazamo and the King knew how the original timeline went. Light didn't.

That…was a problem. Did Aiber originally win? Light assumed that Aiber hadn't originally won, why would the Shinigami King let him have the side of the victor? Light would have to fight to win. Light had always wondered how L had even come in contact with known criminals and trusted them enough to show his face to them. Light wondered whether this was where Aiber had met L. Light regretted not being able to search through Aiber's memories, but Light could only take over his actions.

Still, Light knew that Gazamo's statement had said to not draw attention to the other, so…Aiber had to wait till Gazamo had managed to con a significant amount of people and then report it to L. Of course, Aiber also had to con a few people in the process to not make the plan look too obvious, so Aiber would have to plead immunity before saying anything. Also…Light had to find a way to get Aiber on L's team. Therefore, Aiber's action would need to be one of Light's typical, five-steps-ahead plans. Light had the advantage when sparring with L and planned to take advantage of his knowledge of L's character. A challenge left for the police, a cryptic message, akin to that of the Zodiac Murderer .

Light quickly planned ahead. He'd send the cryptic message now, arrange to chat with L in three days, con a few people inbetween those times, leaving most of the work to Aiber himself. Then, he'd get in contact with Gazamo every day with a tally count, sounding more and more smug every day. He'd have to make Gazamo angry enough that the Shinigami king couldn't control his actions as easily. He'd noticed that it had been difficult to control Aiber when the two con-artists had met in the art gallery, where Aiber had been positively furious.

Light smirked. He knew that there would be an advantage to his games with L and with that pathetic excuse for a successor, Near.

(X)

"You won. How surprising, little human. It's very impressive. I didn't expect it of you." said the shinigami king, as Light gasped and struggled to not throw up as he adjusted to being back in the shinigami realm. The white cord, that connected him with Aiber, had disappeared and it felt like it had ripped away his stomach with it, which was ridiculous, because his skin was still intact.

"I told you before; I'm not a human, even if I look like it!" Light snapped, as he straightened. His stomach still twinged, but he wasn't going to let that ruin his plans. His happiness in exchange for the world. It was what he'd pledged. He wasn't backing out now. "I'm a shinigami. In any case, that was certainly interesting. How about another game?"

The King looked almost tormented from what Light could see of his face. "Why not?" he said and Light smirked. He had him.

(X)

Game after game was played and Light felt the time ebb and pass away. Light made sure to balance his losses and wins. He wanted to put the shinigami King at ease, make them seem equal gameplayers, despite the truth of Light having seen a plan to win every single battle that had been thrown at him.

He'd played as so many people in the little games of succession, mainly people he'd known in life. Deneuve vs Eraldo Coil vs L, Wedy vs Mafia even Soichiro Yagami vs Lapland Glacier. The ways of controlling them were simple, easy and Light slowly was starting to lose the pain associated with leaving the game.

But most importantly, Light was starting to understand the shinigami King and that was key to what he was planning. The King…was addicted to the game. It was obvious in the way he played. The King wished to extend his time in the game, which was shown by his long often overtly complicated plans, even more complex and excruciatingly well-planned than Light's own gambits.

But honestly, Light thought that the shinigami King played with a naïveté, that wasn't warranted from such an old ruler. He played as if time was on his side (_when anything could crumble around his shoulders at any point_), he played like players weren't expendable (_which they always are; even the King is expendable at the end of chess_), placing such trust and hope upon individuals other than himself (_when other individuals were fickle and faithless_). He played with trust in the fact that his opponent was honourable (_fat chance_) and overall, he played like a child. He played the games with the outlook of a child and the simple faith of a child.

And Light would be sure to make that the King's downfall, because ruling was an adult's world. It would be a mercy for all involved. Ruling was no business for a child. Better the peaceful oblivion of death than the strenuous process of ruling truly and the burden that that placed upon the shoulders of a child.

(X)

After what seemed to be their twentieth game, Light frowned and made sure to look weary. "I'm tired of playing like this."

"What do you mean?" asked the shinigami King.

"Well, games without stakes are so dull. What's the point of playing if there isn't a purpose behind it? What's the point of playing if losing is nothing? Losing is bad. We should make losing bad!" Light said, and he almost hated himself for sounding like a child. He was no child. He had lost the ability to be a child a long, long time ago.

"What stakes do you propose?" asked the King. He sounded disapproving, but curious. Light smirked.

"The winner picks the next game and the loser gives up two of their players in the next game." Light said. It was small fry now…but the stakes would increase. Light would make sure of that.

The King nodded and Light couldn't stop the smirk spreading onto his face. Hook, line and sinker. Like stealing candy from a child…oh wait, isn't that exactly what he was doing?

(X)

Slowly, but surely, the stakes rose. Every round, the game became more and more frantic and Light made sure to lose and win equally once more, though to increase his winning rate a little more. His final win had to seem plausible. First losing things inside the game but slowly but surely, Light had bet his shinigami eyes and his hair and his clothing and he had won them by a thread. Now, now….for the final game.

"How about one final game?" Light said, as he stood rather shakily.

"The stakes?" asked the King.

"Our lives. If I die, you can take my life. If you die, you must take your own life and give me the reign of this kingdom." said Light. "It is the only way to guarantee that this last game will actually be interesting."

The King looked at Light and Light felt like he was being scanned by an X-ray. "You are transparent in your means and method of killing me, and you truly are despicable. But I agree to your stakes. I have no desire to even look upon someone who still wishes to kill me; after all of these games we have played."

The King said all of this, but Light could see through him. The addiction of the game would never leave the King's system. He would always want to play and continue to play no matter what.

"The game is of succession. Near vs Mello for the title of L." said the Shinigami King.

"Wait, what?" Light asked, before the white light blinded him again.

(X)

Light had played over 100 of these games, acting as the puppet-master, pulling at the strings of his puppets but this…this was entirely different, entirely new, much to his consternation. Part of him drifted through the white fog that pushed at his very soul and the other half of him was inside the body of Mihael Keehl. He was still a puppeteer, pulling at the strings of a marionette that was the child, Mihael Keehl, better known as Mello.

But, it wasn't that simple. When was it ever simple? He hadn't just displaced the soul of Mihael Keehl like he had with Aiber, Wedy, Deneuve and countless others. Keehl was still around and when he disliked some actions of Light's, he would tug back at the strings, and usually, the younger boy's spirit won, much to Light's annoyance. Maybe the key was to knowing the boy better?

…Well, it was certainly not a surprise to Light that the boy had joined the mafia as a teenager. It ran in the family. His parents, from what Light had managed to glean with listening in at locked doors, was the head of the German Mafia. Light's German was perfect of course, but it was useful being able to filter the slang words through Keehl's mind. They seemed to be drug-runners and ran animal trafficking operations, but Keehl seemed clueless to this.

Keehl was kept away from his parents most of the day, looked after by a grumpy middle-aged woman who was pretty tough on him, but there was no doubt, that for those small moments of the day when he got to see them, that they loved him very much, judging by the presents they showered upon the child. And then, the unthinkable happened for Mihael, a week after Light had attached himself to the child. His parents shoved him into a small room, with a gun and a rosary and told him to not come out unless they called to him.

Mihael was for the first time since Light had met him, terrified and Light had to fight to keep the boy's brain calm and almost put him to sleep when the sounds of screaming and gunshots were heard from the room outside.

It was three hours later that Mihael's little room was disturbed by a policewoman coming into the room. Mihael pointed the gun at her. Light tried to get him to drop it, but Mihael's mind was set and seemed to ignore his orders. Luckily, the policewoman seemed to know how to deal with frightened children and Mihael finally put the gun down. They took the boy to the police station and they told him that he was one of the only survivors of a shoot-out between two intersecting crime groups. At first, Mihael had refused to believe that his parents were criminals and now currently in jail, but when Light pointed out all of the evidence in his brain, the boy finally accepted.

And when the man in a black leather coat came to take Mihael away to become Mello, neither of the inhabitants of the blonde body protested. Light knew that the real battle began here, at the House. Light had no need to instill the need to do the best in Mello, who already felt that urge. Instead, Light struggled with Mello's antisocial tendencies. People were important in your goal to getting to the top.

Light knew this well and the moment he'd spotted a boy wearing bright blue goggles and a striped shirt, lounging around in the classroom on their first day, Light remembered his original lifespan. An aide to Mello's kidnapping of Takada had worn a striped shirt nearly identical to this and had the same hair colour. This was one of Mello's friends from the previous time-line.

"My name is Mello." Light forced Mello to say, "What about you?"

"The name's Matt," said the boy, not looking up from where he was almost napping on his desk. "First place. Don't talk to me, I don't speak with lower life-forms unless necessary."

Light had merely lifted an eyebrow and taken a seat away from him, keeping quiet the whole while. Mello had wanted nothing more than to punch Matt, and it had taken all of Light's control to stop Mello from doing just that, despite firmly agreeing with the sentiment. Bastard. Even if Light had thought that fact about his classmates so many times in his old life, you didn't say things like that to their face. Of course, here, all that seemed to matter was what you were ranked. No wonder Mello wanted to be the best.

The next week, when Mello had reached number one in the rankings, Light sidled up to Matt, who was gaping at the sheet of paper in shock. "The name's Mello. First place. You can talk to me if you like; I don't mind speaking with lower life-forms."

Matt sputtered a bit before laughing and extending his hand out, scratching his head a little. "I was a bit of an idiot, wasn't I? Can't we start over?"

When Light took his hand, another snaking white thread reached out towards Matt and connected immediately. Immediately Light had the same connection with Matt as he did with Mello.

"Well shit. This is going to get complicated." Light said, staring at the two minds that he could now read and manipulate in his head.

x

By the end of the year, using Mello's angelic looks and his own charisma, Light had most of the orphanage under mind control. But Light knew that this was all temporary up until Near and the Shinigami king arrived. There was no doubt that the shinigami King was going to be playing for keeps and would most likely turn some people away from his mind control. Light just had to make sure that they were the unimportant ones.

And so, that day came, unsurprisingly, on Mello's birthday, that a small boy with white hair arrived in their classroom. Light could feel himself swell up with hate upon seeing the boy who had caused his reign as the god over that new world to crumble, but to his surprise, Mello too seemed to instantly hate the boy. Light wasn't sure why, but wondered whether Mello could actually feel his emotions and thoughts the way that Light could feel Mello's. Light sincerely hoped that their relationship wasn't symbiotic. That would have been a pain.

Mello wanted nothing more than to avoid the boy and go beat something up, but Light had gotten better at knowing what Mello would acquiesce to and Light managed to twist Mello's body up after class and go to Near.

"Hello, I'm called Mello. What's your name?" Light said, being polite, and forcing a sunny smile onto his face.

"Near." The boy said reticently before turning away and shuffling down the corridor.

"Will you eat lunch with Matt and I today, Near?" called Light, down the corridor. Near turned around, looking quietly perturbed. Light this time, smiled sincerely. "We always ask new people to eat with us on the first day. It's your choice what you do after that, but we like to get to know what new people are like. Please?"

Near's hands had gone to his hair and started twirling, much to Light's annoyance, but he started to shuffle back towards Mello. "Yes. I will."

And to Light's surprise, Near put his hand through Mello's. Mello seemed equally surprised, but unlike Light, seemed able to cope with it easily and rolled his eyes. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Six." said Near as they walked into the hall and Mello laughed.

"No wonder you're so titchy. Cook will want to feed you up, in any rate, so we'd better save her the trouble."

Light felt an eyebrow rise but sat back and let Mello do the talking. Mello's feelings were still interspersed with annoyance, but any hate had gone away at Near. Light wasn't able to as easily let his feelings go, so it was better that Mello put on that front. At least Mello had managed to master some parts of Sun Tzu. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, indeed.

x

To Light's surprise, Near, Mello and Matt were close friends through the next few years. From what Mogi and Aizawa had gathered from the orphanage when they'd been there to gather information, they'd been the worst enemies and often they had huge fights and debates between each other, both trying to beat the other to the top. There'd never been any violence, but it had been close sometimes.

The contrast between the two times was plain to see. And what was surprising, was that Near…was second. Mello and Light combined were soundly better than everyone else in the orphanage. It was strange, and any of Mello's hatred towards Near was gone now that he was top and reaching to be the best. To be L.

It was strange too, Light was sort of starting to like Near. The boy had a quiet humour and a sharp wit that matched Light's own, a humour that didn't seem to come from the shinigami King. And there was no mistaking the fact that Near was much less closed off in this world. Near seemed to be more open and more free with his actions compared to what Light had seen from his opponent's actions previously. Which made Light curious. Being closed off would serve the shinigami King well. Why was he letting Near be open with Mello?

…Unless the shinigami king couldn't control Near. If the shinigami king was having the same bond that Light had with Mello, this almost symbiotic control over the body…it was possible that Near was stronger than the shinigami King. Still, that was rather unlikely. The shinigami King must have played ten times the amount of games that Light had, and even if he was a child, you didn't go that long without being able to master the people in the game.

No, Light couldn't let his guard down, not now of all times. It was a game and this was one of the Shinigami king's ploys. He had to make sure that Mello didn't get too attached to Near, because Mello was fiercely emotional, despite Light's best attempts to quell that aspect of the blonde boy and Light dreaded what would happen to his main body if the shinigami King managed to get Near to betray Mello.

x

It was late at night when Mello was fourteen and unable to sleep. This would be about the time that the Kira case would start and another Light Yagami come million miles away would pick up a black notebook and change the world for the better. For the better, right?

Che, he hated doubting himself, which he'd been doing more and more lately. Being stuck in the game for this long annoyed him. All of the other games had been short, a few days to a month. Light had been stuck with Mello for nearing six years now. It had been interesting, no doubt, especially in a house for genii, but Light was so tired of waiting. He needed L to die so that he could succeed him and win the game.

Light was tensed and for some reason, the blonde boy had managed to pick up on it. Annoyingly. Sometimes, Light wondered what would happen to this world once the game was over. Did it blink away from existence because the events had changed or did it continue to live on, separate from the actual universe?

Light knew of the alternate universe theory, but he'd always been a little skeptical until he'd started playing these games. It would be a shame if these people he'd grown to like quite a lot in comparison to the people that he'd hated in the old world, just disappeared. Mello had finally gotten fed up of his musing it seemed, and was walking to the kitchen for chocolate. Nothing new.

What was new however, was the fact that a messy black-haired man was stealing cake from the sweet fridge.

"Who are you?" Mello asked but Light said nothing as he looked upon the face of his rival. Here he was. All Light needed to do was kill him. Make him dead, to end this stupid game so Light could rule the shinigami realm. There were cameras around, but wasn't that what Matt was for? Then…why was he hesitating?

"My name is Dominic." L said and Light took over Mello and gave him a flat glare.

"Please stop lying. It's unsightly and irritating, especially since it's so transparent. You can only be L." Light said, as he reached for some chocolate from the fridge.

"Why would you ask a question that you already knew the answer to?" asked L, as he perched on a kitchen chair and licked his sundae.

"To see how you would answer. Your first reaction was to lie, which means that you're here on a stealth mission or that you really don't think much about our abilities. Any idiot could tell that Mr. Wammy and Roger wouldn't just let a random man into the House without telling anyone and burglars don't steal food from the fridge in such a conspicuous manner, however hungry they are." Light deduced easily, as he took the opposite seat next to L and let Mello deal with the actions of actually eating the chocolate. He couldn't kill his rival. Not yet, anyway. The Light Yagami on the other side of the world would do that for him.

He remembered the little meeting they'd had earlier that week, that farce of a conversation with L as he answered the questions of the children and revealed absolutely nothing about himself, despite answering with nothing but the truth. Light hadn't felt any need to ask questions about L when he knew the man almost better than he knew himself and Mello had been busy watching the other children's reactions and L's hidden meanings to really care about actually asking a question.

"You're very perceptive, Mello." said L, as he licked the spoon.

Light rolled his eyes again. "It's not being perceptive, it's called not being an idiot."

L chuckled and Mello's urge to smirk beat down Light's façade of stoicness. "So then Mello, why are you awake so late at night? Surely you have some tests tomorrow?"

Light gave L a gimlet stare. The tone was monotonous but the wording was so patronizing. L didn't seem to think much of his successors. In fact, there seemed to be a little bit of disdain hidden amongst the tightly wrapped layers of nonchalance. "I couldn't sleep." Light answered.

L tilted his head sideways. "Any particular reason?" he asked. There was no interest in his tone, it was obvious he was just asking it to be polite as he had often done with Light when they'd been working on the Yotsuba case.

Still, Light answered as Mello would. "It's stupid, really…but, it feels like something's awakening, you know? That something big is gonna happen soon. It felt like this before the Lapland Glacier murders and before the Twin Towers fell. I can't help but think that something's going to happen that's going to change the world, soon, and…I don't know whether it will be for the better or for the worse."

L had stopped eating his cake halfway through Light's confession and had pressed a thumb to his lips. "That is certainly interesting, Mello. You've felt this before then? How many times?"

Light shrugged. "Umm, well the two times I mentioned, but there were another ten times or so, but I couldn't find anything on the news or in any sort of media that would warrant the feeling. I even asked Matt to help me hack some databases, but I couldn't figure out what had triggered it, you know?"

"No, I don't know." L said, as he resumed eating, a glint in his eyes that signaled that he was very, very interested in the individual in front of him. Light knew this expression well and had to hide his smirk. Finally, he was treating Mello as something akin to an equal. "But it is likely that these incidents that you speak of were hidden from the public because they were too sensitive to reach the general public. It may not have even related to crime."

Light nodded and lapsed back into silence. He had nothing else to say, so he just watched L. He missed the debates they'd had, but he was sure that even L would get suspicious if his successor, that he seemed to dislike quite a bit, just randomly instigated some sort of debate. Mello finished the chocolate and played with his rosary, which Mello had never let leave his figure since his parents' imprisonment.

"What do you do in your spare time, Mello?" asked L, looking as equally awkward as Mello felt.

"Study. Do homework. Usually, Matt and I drag Near away from his puzzles and go into town to solve the Winchester Police's problems for them. Keep myself fit." Light answered shortly, shrugging. His wording was very deliberate. L knew that Mello was trying to get his position by studying, that he was already doing detective work and that he was friends with the two people below him in the rankings. It was probably information that L already knew, but L liked to analyse people by the way they disclosed information and Light intended to try and win L over to his side rather than that of the shinigami King.

"You shouldn't let the police here get dependent on you. Who knows what will happen once I die and you have to take over for me?" L teased, as he licked his spoon again.

Mello's fist clenched and Light managed to stop him from standing up in his anger but couldn't stop the expression of anger. "Don't say that! You're not allowed to die yet!" Mello barked.

L looked rather taken aback. "Is that not your entire purpose here?"

Mello crossed his arms and looked away from L. "Look, you're a legend here, okay? You've done so much for the world. Everyone wants to be you, but frankly, I don't. I want to work with you and help you reach your goals or be a detective in my own right. Replacing you…is not on my list of things to do. I'm only here because the education is what I need."

L was almost smiling now, his eyes big and wide. This was odd. L looked almost flattered. "Really now?" he asked, "How…interesting."

"Please don't try and act normal. It's not working." Light said, before he could control himself and he slapped his hands over his mouth.

L outrightly laughed and Light made sure to look contrite. He had not meant for that to escape his mouth. He'd cultivated a personality for Mello that was brash but kind at the same time. He couldn't ruin that now with L, no matter how annoying the other man was.

"You don't hesitate to speak your mind." L said. His emotions were hidden and Mello tugged the reins of the body away from Light.

"Look, I'm hardly going to keep quiet when I disagree with something. That's the quickest way for evil to take foot. It's how most dictators like Mugabe and Gaddaffi started." Mello argued, as he tapped his fingers across the table.

"I never said that it was a bad thing. I knew someone quite like you before." L said, smirking a little.

Light, besides himself, was interested. He pulled the reigns back from Mello. "Who?"

L suddenly looked slightly hesitant. "It's not a happy story."

"There aren't many happy stories in life, and if they are happy, then there is no plot development or reason for the story to exist." Light said.

"Most stories end happily though. This one ends with justice." L said; his mouth in a tight line.

"Happiness is an ambiguous term in any case. One person's happiness is always another person's sadness. Every story is sad to someone." asked Light, as he leant back. "If you wished to keep us away from unhappiness, we wouldn't be being groomed for your position, where you see nothing but sadness."

L smiled and there was something akin to pride there. "You are determined to hear this, aren't you, Mello? Well then, let me tell you the story of the Los Angeles Beyond Birthday Murder case…"

x

The night ended with three stories about L's cases and two of Mello's stories about the orphanage and one of Light's personal stories, twisted to suit the life of Mello. Light, besides himself, felt a little jealous. He'd never been able to talk with anybody in such a benign manner, who was his equal in intelligence. Even when he'd been chained to L, L had never been able to forget that Light was Kira, and any chance of civil discussions that were enjoyable had disappeared.

And the little game had certainly been interesting. But since that night, the Kira case had erupted in full spring and Mello followed it with something of an obsession. Everyone else in the orphanage looked at him like he was crazy, he knew, especially since he never turned off his laptop anymore and constantly monitored what was happening.

"Are you okay, Mello?' asked Matt, one day, despite Light attempting to control his personality.

"I'm fine." Mello said automatically as he did another trace scan to reroute the Yotsuba group's firewall to try and let him in. Really, Light should have remembered how he did this the last time, but that detail had escaped him and he'd been spending the last few hours trying his hardest to get it to work, once the criminals stopped dying for four days, signaling the start of other Light's confinement and Higuchi's reign as Kira.

"You're not okay. Matt and I have been worried for you." Near says, his voice quiet as he plops down on Mello's lap.

"Get off." Mello said, as pushed Near off in time to see the firewall push him out for the umpteenth time. "Urrgh!" Mello growled, despite himself.

"Why are you doing this? Near beat you for first this week." Matt said, "And you haven't been sleeping at all. I always see you working away into the night. Relax, dude."

Light let Mello deal with it as he pulled hard at Matt's personality to get him to shut up. Unfortunately, Matt was more stubborn than Light would have thought and clung like a limpet to the reigns of the brunette's body.

"Yes Mello, this is unnatural. What is wrong with you?" Near said, his face furrowed and his eyes bigger than usual.

"Look," Mello said, "Kira's important. I don't know why everyone else seems to be ignoring his existence, but he is important. Look at what's happening to the world! And L's struggling. This is his longest case yet, and you know it. He's been on this for nearly five months now! Five months! His longest case took two months! As much as it pains me to say it, L will lose and die unless we can help him."

Light's attention snapped back to Mello. What? No… other him was going to win! Other him had to win _this_ round, at least. That was the whole point of this. Mello was just doing this information surveillance so that he could have more information than Near when L eventually died. Not…not sentiment. Damn it, he needed to keep Mello in check, more than he needed to keep Matt in check.

Light jumped back to Mello's body in time to hear Near's question. "Then why won't you let us help you?"

Because in this timeline, they were friends, there was no real reason that would actually be accepted. Time for some lying. "Because….because it's likely that anyone who takes on this case will be in danger. I don't want you two to be in danger. You're my best friends. Please. Stay out of this!"

The sentiment was sincerely awful. Light could not believe he was actually saying this. The things he did for his plans. If Ryuk were here, there would have been a lot of laughter. The Shinigami king was probably howling with laughter. Maybe.

Matt, to Mello's surprise, hugged him. Light froze as did Mello. "It's exactly because you don't want us involved that we're going to help you. Honestly, how did you think you were going to be better at hacking than me, the master of coding?"

"You're not arrogant in the slightest, are you Matt?" Light asked, keeping his composure together as Matt leant over him to have a go at Yotsuba's firewall.

"He has a point though." Near said, as he too decided to hug Mello. Light had to stifle the shout of frustration. What was it, molest-Mello-day, or something? Or be-affectionate –day or something else stupid like that, which only idiots came up with to make themselves feel good.

"Fine then. I'll let you idiots help me. But the moment things get dangerous, you have to promise to leave and stop helping me." Light ordered sternly.

"Only if you promise to do the same." Matt said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can't—Can't you see why I've got to do this? Kira killed my parents! They're dead now, where they were just in jail before. I never had the chance to talk to my parents and ask them why they were criminals and now Kira took that from me! If he takes L too, I will have no choice but to hunt him down and kill him! L can't die! He said that he wouldn't!" Mello said, pulling the reigns away from Light viciously as he exploded.

"He said that he wouldn't?" asked Near and Light growled. Mello was an idiot. A real idiot. Brilliant, now the shinigami King would know that Light's advantage and disadvantage was L.

"The day that he spoke to all of us, he was actually in the House. I met him when he was stealing cake from the fridge at night. I couldn't sleep and we chatted for most of the night. And he said that he wouldn't die. He promised." Mello said and Light let him do it. No point in lying; Near would see straight through it.

Near looked a mixture between betrayed and curious. "That's quite a promise to make. What will you do if he can't keep it?"

Light finally managed to get a chance to grab the reigns and did. "You know the answer to that, Near. You aren't stupid."

Near nodded and their conversation stopped as Matt finally cracked the Yotsuba firewall.

x

The day that Roger called Mello and Near to the office was the day that Light knew the game would be decided on. He had to win. He simply had to win.

"I'm afraid that L is dead." Roger said, in his annoyingly slimy tone and Light let the expression of shock and horror and sadness and weakness slip over his face. Near didn't even seem to react, which was how Light would have liked to have acted, if he was being himself.

Light let Mello's hot anger and sheer frustration slip towards the reigns of the body and let him rage at Roger, before Roger finally protested. Light grabbed the controls back and looked at Roger with a frank contemplation.

"So who's his successor then? Me or Near? Who did he choose?" Light asked, making sure to sound like he was still suitably distressed.

"That's just the issue, Mello, Near. He died before he could choose."

Light blinked. What? He thought that he would have been able to convince L enough to put him forward as his successor. He'd practically hit L over the head with his charisma and his intelligence and his confidence.

"Mello, Near, can't you two work together?" asked Roger, looking desperate. "I couldn't make that decision myself. And even Mr. Wammy is dead now, so he cannot either."

Light stared at Near. He…had to win. He…just had to win. He couldn't die in his world…not without making that change to the shinigami realm….he had to cheat.

"All right." Near said, easily, looking up at Mello. Light bit his lip in frustration. No, no, a draw would not be good enough. He had not spent 7 years in this body to even up with a 'draw' between him and the Shinigami king.

"Can't…can't you give us a test? See which one of is truly better? L…L said that he worked best when he was alone, because he was confident in his own decisions. We need to be able to emulate that. Whether it's me or Near…we need to be able to see which one of us would be better. Because only one of us can be L." Light asked, looking hesitant. Quickly, he switched his hand to Roger's controls and made the old man nod.

"Very well. I will consult with the teachers and with the police and see what I can create to test both of you." said Roger. Mello nodded and walked out, with Near following slowly afterwards. Light quickly switched controls back to Mello

"Why Mello? Why can't we just work together? We did it before!" Near said, looking almost betrayed, as they made their way back to the rooms. His voice was filled with an emotion that had been lacking during the conversation with Roger or any of the other times that Light had talked with Near, really.

"I will win, Near. Because I'm not putting you or Matt in danger. L died from this case. I'm the eldest; that means I look after you two, which means not letting you work on cases that killed L. I'm sorry Near, but I can't lose. I'm not letting you put yourself out there." Mello said, without Light's prompting. This was problematic, Mello was supposed to be more detached than this.

Near's look as Mello walked away was both heartbreaking and chilling at the same time. Neither of them wanted to lose. For Mello and Near, it was a game of succession and of friendship and who was going to be more stubborn. But for Light and the Shinigami king…they won or they died. And with their death went their ideals. Kira's ideals were etched on the human world forever, even if his reign had evaporated, but Light refused to go to Mu without etching his presence onto the shinigami realm permanently.

x

The challenge wasn't much of a challenge at all, really. He knew exactly the clues and the answers that needed to be found from leeching it from Roger's mind. All Light needed to do was backtrack and backtrack he did.

There was no doubt that Mello would win. And win, Mello did. Spectacularly. But, when Roger bowed his head and declared Mello the successor of L, neither Light nor Mello felt any happiness, as the white fog engulfed Light and ripped him away from the people of Wammy's Orphanage and the boy, Mihael Keehl, who Light had finally begun to understand.

Strange, how they'd had six years with a symbiotic relationship, and Light still didn't fully understand everything about him. Maybe humans were more complex than he'd previously assumed.

(X)

"So….you won." The King said, and he looked old and tired.

Light nodded. "That's correct. But I wouldn't worry about this realm. I will build it up from the ground and make it better than currently is. The realm languishes and the shinigami have no purpose. I strive to change that."

"And do what, exactly?" asked the King.

Light tapped the side of his nose. "That's for me to know. Goodbye, Shinigami."

The King threw Light a glare that would have destroyed him, had Light still been alive, before bits of sand started to fall from the ceiling and the Shinigami King slowly disintegrated and died. Perhaps it was too maudlin for Light, but Light felt sorry for the childlike King. He hoped that Mu still had games for the shinigami to play, however unlikely that sentiment was.

The moment that sand stopped falling, a small red book fell from the ceiling and landed in front of Light. It was slightly larger than Sidoh's and Rem's Death Notes had been, but it was mostly the same.

Light picked it up and the moment he did so, a warmth filled him and he felt complete. Light laughed, he hadn't even realised that he'd been empty. Light opened it and blinked. The only name written in the entire Death Note was…. The Shinigami King?

Light stared at it. He was unsure whether it was his Death Note that detailed the deaths that he'd caused or whether the Shinigami King had killed himself using this notebook…or whether this wasn't the first and only shinigami King. Still, it hardly mattered, Light strode around the dark, watery cave. There were a bunch of Death Notes in various colours in the corner and Light strode over to pick them up. To his surprise, his hand was deflected away from it. Interesting. So the King couldn't touch the Death Notes. It did make sense, in a twisted way. He had so much power already, why would you wish to add to that? It didn't matter anyway, Light had his Death Note and that would be enough.

He was the ruler of a new world.

Light smirked and to his surprise, Ryuk strode into the cave. "So you're finally King? Took you long enough."

Light tilted his head sideways. "How did you figure it out?"

"Hmm? Oh, the whole shinigami realm will have felt it. The entire atmosphere changes, because the shinigami king is what keeps this realm alive. The moment that the shinigami King is killed without an immediate successor, the entire realm would fall, remember? So, the moment you picked it up, you made the atmosphere different. Somehow, I'm not as bored anymore." Ryuk said, smirking.

Light laughed. "Interesting. This works out in my favour in any case. I can explain my purpose here and what I intend to do."

Ryuk smirked as he saw what Light was holding. "Aren't you going to write some names in your notebook? You could die if you don't have enough lifespan."

Light shrugged. "Yes, I think I shall. It wouldn't do to die in the middle of my speech."

He opened the book and turned around to Ryuk. "Ryuk, can I borrow your pen?"

Ryuk laughed. "Can't you just make one? You are King, after all."

Light felt his eyebrow lift but stared at his hand and imagined a pen there. To his surprise, a fountain pen similar to the ones he liked to use appeared in his hand. Light smirked triumphantly and wrote down the first names that came to mind. Nate River, Stephen Loud, Anthony Carter, Halle Bullock. Revenge was sweet, even if a part of him still remembered the small boy with white hair fondly.

He considered killing the Japanese Task Force, but thought that he'd save them for later and imagine some more interesting ways to watch them die.

Ryuk started laughing the moment that Light had finished writing down their names in neat immaculate English. Light suddenly felt himself double over in pain and coughed pathetically as he got back up. His vision was now coated by a slight tint of red.

"Did I just gain shinigami eyes?" asked Light as he turned around to look at Ryuk, whose name was above his head. No lifespan though. Weird.

Ryuk was still laughing and Light stared at his feet. They were tinged with black and he had shining scales and jewels coating his shins. Light also felt like he weighed a little more and extended a hand behind him. He had large wings protruding from his back. Instead of the elegant grey feathers he'd had before, these felt like ligament and bone, like the rest of his body.

"What happened, Ryuk!?" Light demanded, angrily.

"Every time you write a name in the Death Note, your human appearance changes to reflect your inner soul." said Ryuk, laughing again, as he clutched his sides.

Light took in a deep breath and created a chair to sit in. He perched himself upon the resplendent throne and glared at Ryuk. "Information is power, Ryuk. And I intend to be very powerful. The next time you keep information like that from me, I promise you, there will be a very painful punishment."

Ryuk grinned, not looking in the least repentant. "King Light. Aren't you proud of yourself?"

"Lord Kira. You will address me as your majesty. And I am the god of a new world, Ryuk. Let me show you what real change is." Light said, as he leant back into the chair as some shinigami came in to gape at him.

He had won.

(X)

_You look around you as you arrive. You distinctly remember dying. So where are you? It's a dull world, the clouds congregate above your head as you look around. But the place itself looks lovely. There are a variety of structures everywhere and neat gardens and plants growing everywhere. The fruit looks plump and bright. _

_There's someone in front of you, their silhouette looking like they were wearing a monster costume. Maybe it's Halloween. You walk towards them and recoil in surprise as they turn to face you. The things you'd taken as a costume were real. They have large spikes sticking out of their shoulders and eyes that burn with fire. They were carrying a black notebook in some kind of holster. _

"_Umm, can you tell me where I am?" you ask, a little hesitantly. You've never been one for discrimination, but this person freaks you out._

"_You're a new one, aren't you? You're in the shinigami realm." says what you can now distinguish as a man. _

"_Shinigami?" you ask hesitantly. It's familiar as far as words go. You just can't remember why…._

"_Death god. You are also a death god, like me. Look, I don't deal with newbies. Keep following the blue signs and you should arrive at Armonia Justin's house. He'll explain the rules to you and if you're lucky, you'll meet Lord Kira."_

"_Kira…" you repeat. It's another word that sounds familiar, but again, you can't remember why. Everything is just so fuzzy in your memory. "Isn't it a little backwards to have a monarchy? A democracy is all the way to go, right?"_

_The death god laughs. "Haha, sure, if you want to be as corrupt as the human realm is." You feel vaguely insulted, though you aren't really sure why. It's not like you disagree. _

_The death god goes back to staring down the large shimmering structure and scribbling away at something. You watch it for a while, but as it seems to be ignoring you, you walk down the road. Blue signs…blue signs…._

_There aren't any blue signs. You don't know if the other death god was having you on, but whatever the reason, it doesn't change the fact that you are now lost. "Hello?" you call out. _

_There's a large amount of noise behind you and you whip around quickly. Another death god, dressed all in black and white, with bright red lipstick looks at you coolly, her wings folding behind her. "You are new here?" she asks, her voice without emotion. _

_You nod. She rolls her eyes and taps her very long nails, which you would prefer to call, claws, against her arm. "My name is Sanaz. Welcome to the shinigami realm. I will take you to Lord Kira. He wishes to see you, for some reason, he seems to think that you'll be special. Follow me."_

_Without even waiting for you to answer, she unfolds her wings again and soars into the air. You feel nervous but jump upwards and hope to stay there. To your surprise, you do, so you follow the elegant shinigami. You can see the blue signs clearly, now that you are in the sky. _

"_What…what are the duties of a shinigami?" you ask. Usually, you wouldn't phrase your words in such a formal way, but the female shinigami's aura seems to demand sophistication on your behalf. _

"_We kill the people on the human realm who are not worthy of being there anymore. Those who are evil, die. We are silent in our judgement and to those whom we deem worthy of our favour, we give them our powers also. In your life, though it is unlikely that you will be able to remember it, you were one of those people who were granted our favour and our powers." She explains, coldly. _

"_Why can't I remember my human life?" you ask._

"_Humans who have used the Death Note, go to Mu and there, their memories are erased and they are bought here. I too used the Death Note in my life. I aided Lord Kira in his quest to rid the world of evil. My name was Kiyomi Takada, in life." She explains, looking sour. You wonder why that name also sounds very familiar. You also wonder why everyone seems to revere this Lord Kira. Is he really that great?_

_You voice this thought to the shinigami and she smiles for the first time. It's not a great look. "You will see when you meet Lord Kira for yourself. He will grant you your Death Note, himself. He does this for every newcomer."_

_You are now very curious as the two of you sweep down to a castle-like structure. It's very opulent and doesn't look very practical, but it's lovely to look upon. You fly through the main gates and pass through a large orchard, where a shinigami all in black, waves at Sanaz, his clown smile spreading wider. Sanaz ignores him, sniffing slightly. _

_Finally, you enter something that looks like a courtyard. It's a large room made of rock and it's very simple and understated in comparison to the rest of the castle. At the back of the room, there is a throne where a man sits lazily back._

_He is the most human and handsome looking person you have seen here yet, but there are jarring discrepancies. His eyes are a deep crimson red and his auburn hair is longer than you remember human hair to be. His skin is still a deep tan colour rather than blue or black like you've seen upon other shinigami, but it's cracked, like a mirror that's been smashed and there are scale-like jewels decorating his hands and legs, that look out of place upon him._

_He wears fitted trousers and an unbuttoned black shirt, over which, there is a large purple cape, fastened by a gaudily opulent fur-covered clasp. He smiles as you come in and rises, removing the cape to uncover large batlike wings that end in grey feathers. You feel slightly overwhelmed and hasten to copy Sanaz's posture of kneeling. _

"_I have told you many times, Sanaz, to stop bowing when you come in. It does embarrass me so." He says, his voice warm and pleasant to listen to. You wish that he would talk more._

"_You are my Lord, and it would be a disgrace if I did not show you the honour befitting of your status." says Sanaz stiffly and he laughs, and it is slightly brittle. _

"_You are stubborn, dear Sanaz. But enough about me. I bid you welcome, young shinigami. Please, rise."_

_You hasten to obey and he smiles as he places his hands on your shoulders. "What is your name?" asks Lord Kira and you stammer._

"_I…I can't remember…" You finally manage to say. _

_He smiles encouragingly. "Don't worry, that's normal. If you wish…I can give you a name?"_

_You nod; that would be an honour indeed, to have the King of the Shinigami give _you_ a name! He laughs. "Let me think… how about Misa?"_

_The name is unbelievably familiar. "Yes, Lord Kira. It is beautiful." You say, letting a smile cross your face. He smirks, and if it isn't entirely friendly, you pass it off as a trick of the light. He is pure and wholesome and you are unworthy for even thinking anything against him. _


	8. Chapter 7

**The Heir's To A Spider's Web**

**Chapter 7**

_**EDIT: (2/20/13) THIS CHAPTER IS NOW MOVED UP TO THE CHAPTER 8 SPOT AND THE TAIKUTSU SHORT STORY WILL REMAIN WHERE IT IS. THIS IS BECAUSE OF A REVIEWING ISSUE. THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY TECHNICAL ISSUES AND THANKS TO VIOLENTCITIZEN FOR BRINGING IT TO MY ATTENTION.**_

**AN: New chapter. Enjoy. It's another long one. My especial thanks go to reviewers, Gnimaerd and Mary-Lou for reviewing every single chapter! You guys are awesome!**

**A lot of research went into this chapter, especially into the technology that was around when Light, Near and Mello were kids. Gods, floppy disks (older version of USB drives) only stored around 120,000kB. That's not even enough to store one picture. And I complain about only having a 4GB USB stick nowadays :/**

**The idea of the children playing a competitive game called HackACME is from Sarapsys' lovely story called 'Under One Roof'. I've changed the idea of what the game is actually like a lot, because I didn't want to steal her ideas, but I love the name. Especially in context of Looney Tunes. I love the idea of L being a secret Looney Tunes fan. **

**Sorry for the long (long) AN, but I also would like to say that I have a new story cover that I drew myself for the story. It was a pain (especially Near's hair) but I love this story a lot and wanted a cooler cover than Light being pelted at by chalk. As amusing as that is. The link to the full picture is here: (remove spacing) ww w. aryst hae -ni iant art art/ The -He irs- to-a -Sp id er-s -W eb -Cove r-3 54181 712**

"Wait…so you really did that?" asked Linda, looking amused. "You hummed them into annoyance?"

Light nodded, as he cradled his head in his hands. His headache was still persistent and his body hadn't stopped aching since last night. He was going to have to skip their physical class today, or at least, sit out to the side and watch what they were doing instead of participating.

"And A didn't actually commit suicide?" asked Mello, as he leant forward from where he was leaning against the bookcase.

"No." Light said, not looking upwards.

"Good. I was disappointed in her when she just hung herself instead of living on." muttered Matt and Light looked upwards with some difficulty.

"She mentioned you. Did you know her well?"

Matt nodded. "I was around at the height of her 'reign' at the top of Wammy's House. She was a ruthless individual. She sabotaged others to keep her place as first and hid it all behind a veneer of being nice. But she was somewhat kind to the littlies because she could place the blame of some of her exploits on us so she kept us in good terms. Well, that was until Mello and I were moved into their ranking class and Mels beat B for second. She 'died' a couple of days after that."

Light nodded. "In any case, she was definitely clever enough to keep that crime network going for so long, but in the end, she failed."

"There were about twenty ways you could have taken advantage of the situation without getting injured." Near said from where he was sitting and tapping the tape recorder he now used as notes in class.

"From when I was pretending to be Hubert Clatthieu? Probably, but I was focused on getting L the information. After all, that was my job, right?" Light said, looking up. "I'm not his successor yet."

He didn't let on that he never wanted to be L's successor. Light's goal was something entirely different. Wammy's House was a stepping stone. That was all.

"No, when you were in the main control room." said Near, monotonously. "She offered you a chance to join with her. You should have taken it and betrayed her from the inside."

Light nodded and winced at the pain that came from it and dropped his head again. "I know. But think about what L's reaction would have been to that. He was listening to everything we said. I didn't want to get rid of the only outside help I had."

Mello nodded, a smug smirk on his face. "Also, A might be foolish in some aspects, but she's a Wammy's House kid. He'd have had less freedom if he'd defected than if he stayed a prisoner. Her reasoning would have been that if he could change sides once, he would be able to change sides again. She probably wouldn't have told Light anything useful, just to see if the information leaked, and if it did, she would have fed him a stream of bullshit."

"You're acting like I would have fallen for that." said Light, cradling his neck. "Obviously, she wouldn't have fully trusted me. I knew that when I refused her."

"Of course you did." Mello said, blithely. Light closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Gods, how he wished that he could make the pain go away.

"But I didn't tell you all of this just for you to point out the flaws in my plan." Light said. "I told you all of this, because I wanted to show you what working for L will be like. What things you might have to face and the pains that, ouch, come later. It's not all as easy as the Miranda case."

"We were well aware of that." Near said, as he twirled his fingers in his hair.

"Were you? I was forced under conditions that meant I was sorely away my comfort zone and I was expected to function exactly the same, if not better under those conditions. I was then beaten up so badly that two days later, I still can't move without wincing. In return, I gain nothing beneficial for myself. Is that really how you want to be used by L? Used once and thrown away, without a second thought for your welfare?" said Light looking up and placing every last bit of confidence, pain and emotion into his voice.

Linda, Mello and Matt actually looked slightly disturbed but Near was barely affected. "So what? Isn't that exactly L's intention in making this place? The broken children are broken even further to save the world. In exchange, the children that are whole and happy, get to stay whole and happy." The white-haired boy said, his voice almost cold. "I knew the consequences of coming here and I'm pretty sure that you knew exactly what you were getting into, Light."

"But did everybody else here get that option?" asked Light. There was a silence. Light smirked as he bent over in agony over the library table. L might be winning the little games between them, but Light's main gambit was already coming into play, slowly but surely. He would win this. There was no doubt about it.

(X)

Months passed, as was their purpose and L's contact with the orphanage was minimal. Light was surprised. He'd suspected that after seeing the success of Light's own mission, L would have furthered Light's own plans by asking more children from the orphanage to aid him in his missions, even if it wasn't Light. Instead…L seemed to be ignoring them altogether.

Strange. Unexpected. Light wasn't happy. It wasn't supposed to work like that. It wasn't that he couldn't adapt to changes in his predictions for behavioural traits, just that he didn't like it. For instance, now.

Near had never been one of shopping or leaving Wammy's House when wearing normal clothing. Yet now, he was currently doing both and had dragged Light along to Winchester town with him. This was not normal in the slightest.

"Near," asked Light as they walked past a Boots storefront, "What are we doing here?"

"Shopping. I thought that you were supposed to be observant." Near said, throwing Light a wide-eyed look.

"Yes, but why? Don't tell me you buy into Christmas commercialism." Light said, pulling a face.

Near gave Light a withering look. "Don't be stupid. Of course it's not commercialism. It's for HackACME."

"Say what?" asked Light, wondering if he'd misheard. He could have just sworn that Near had said that they were attempting to hack a fictional company.

"HackACME. The main test of our deductive abilities inside the orphanage. The forty children that are attempting to become L are split into randomly allotted groups. The number of groups changes every year, but each group is given a task to complete and they are to finish their task before anyone else and make sure that the other teams won't be able to finish their tasks. The challenge usually spans an entire week and we don't have lessons during this time period."

"Right. What does that have to do with shopping?" Light asked, as they entered Curry's. Near was steering towards the computer section and Light followed, ignoring the look that they got from most people.

"Each person gets given everything they'll need for the week from clothes to toiletries to things they can use to help them in their task. Each person is allowed to take one thing with them however, that will be useful. Matt is handy in that aspect, he just uses a floppy disk as his object and he just stores all of his programmes on there. Each group usually gets a laptop so his group usually won." Near said, as they reached the phone section.

"So Mello usually won then? I guess you want to beat him. I can understand that." Light said with a smirk.

"Actually, no. These are randomly allotted groups but friends are almost never in the same group. Matt was usually on my group and I usually won. But this year, there are supposed to be four groups, and it's likely that the top four students will be split up. Also, this year, it's rumoured that most of our challenges will be in the real world rather than in and around Wammy's House. I needed to find something to help my group, but you can't go into town alone, so I figured that you would want to come along as well to choose technology for your group as well." Near explained as he picked up a mobile phone and almost dropped it again as it pulled him down.

Light took it from him and placed it back on the shelf. "There's a reason they call it 'the brick'. You shouldn't pick it up one-handed."

Near looked as amused as was possible for him. "Not like we could buy it anyway. Look at how much it costs."

Light felt his eyes widen as he looked at the price. "Bloody hell! £500? Who do they think is going to buy these things?"

Near shrugged. "Rich people. Might I remind you that we are quite rich ourselves? I'm fairly certain that L could afford quite a lot of these."

"L could afford these. We can't. We haven't got his money. We only have what Roger filters down to us as pocket money." Light said. "If we're going to buy anything that's remotely useful as far as technology goes, we're going to need a lot more money."

"From where do you suggest getting it from though, Light?" asked Near as they made their way back out of Curry's. "I do hope that you won't turn to crime."

"Would you count a calculated gamble as a crime?" asked Light, as he felt the clogs whirring in his brain. He could play this to his advantage. And his father had given him almost 6 million yen as emergency money on his debit card….

"What do you mean, Light?" asked Near as he finally starting twirling his white hair.

"Tell me Near. How do you fancy our luck at playing the stocks?" asked Light with a smirk.

Near's raised eyebrows were all the response that Light needed.

(X)

"So are you excited for HackACME, Light?" asked Elpheba as she walked into their class on History. "It starts after this lesson."

"I'm still not quite certain about all of the fuss behind it, if I'm quite frank." Light said with a polite smile. "It's just another competition."

"Yes, but it's a more creative competition than to merely study. A lot more people excel at HackACME than at schoolwork. And L usually devises the stuff that we have to do, so that makes it pretty exciting too." She explained. "Also, the littlies don't join in, which makes it more exclusive for the ones who chose to be L."

"I suppose it should be interesting, even if I still doubt the excitement that's sprung up around it will actually match the game." Light said, leaning back in his chair.

"It's actually pretty interesting, Light." said Matt, as he leant forward from where he was playing videogames underneath his desk. "The situations are different every year and there are different rules depending on who you're playing. I mean last year, we were split into tiny teams of three and we were told that one of the ten teams were the 'enemy' and that we had to figure out whom our enemies were before all of the other teams and before the enemy managed to 'kill' all of us. Death was being detained in the kitchens for the duration of the week."

"Who won?' asked Light, despite himself.

"Linda, Jason and Cindy were the enemy and I think it was actually Near's team with Elpheba and Hobbit that figured it out. Mello, Lawrence and Xenia were closer to figuring it out though, but then they all died." Matt said, with a smirk.

Light snorted. "That would have hard, trying to keep Mello 'dead'."

"It was!" Linda said, with a laugh as she waked in and took her seat next to Light. "I think we had to sedate him at one point to stop him from escaping."

"You'd attacked us in the corridor and whacked us over the head. Then you blindfolded me. I thought I was actually under attack from somebody!" said Mello rolling his eyes as he finally looked up from where he was frantically revising for the test. "You should just be grateful that my paintgun wasn't loaded, or else I would never have been captured."

"We didn't let you get that far on purpose, Mello." Jason said, smirking as he leant over from his desk. "We're hardly unaware that you know how to aim and shoot better than Legolas."

Matt snorted. "Legolas is a pretty accurate description, actually. The hair, the clothes, the constant gloom and doom…."

Mello pushed him off his chair and the classroom burst out laughing. Light shook his head.

"Have teams been decided yet?" he asked, as he pulled at his cuffs.

"Nah, Ms. Halliburn's going to announce them at the end of the lesson." said Cindy, as she tossed her pigtails over her back. "But it's fairly obvious that you lot are going to be split up."

"Duh. If we were on the same team, it's not really much fun as a competition goes." Mello said, as he turned back to the textbook.

"Agreed." Linda said. "What about the rumours of it being in the real world?"

"Probably false," Jason said, "It's unlikely that they'll actually unleash us on the wormbait. I think the staff are too worried about our reactions to them. I think last time it happened, it wasn't pretty."

"It's a little ridiculous though, isn't it?" asked Light, rolling his eyes at Jason's derogatory term, "Here we are in our little isolated genius bubble and even the thought of setting foot outside and dealing with normal people worries the staff and angers mostly everyone here. We're training to be L, once we're L, we'll be dealing with 'wormbait' on a daily basis. You need to stop distinguishing them from yourself, because even creating that difference makes it that much harder to interact."

"But you can't deny that there is a difference between us and them." Elpheba said, placing her chin in her palm.

"The us and them argument shouldn't even be perpetrated in the first place." Light argued, "Isn't that exactly what's happened previously in history? Two physically or mentally distinct races of people split into two groups and both groups find ways to trivialize or villainize the other race? Simply by even thinking of ourselves as distinct beings other than human beings, we are subject to the idea of racism."

"It's not 'racism' if it's true, though. Statistically, we're smarter than them." Cindy said, and Light pulled a face.

"Sure, but you can't just say that there aren't bright people amongst the rest of the human populace." Light said, remembering his sister. He wondered how her English was improving.

"And that conversation is exactly the kind of discrimination that we'll be addressing today after the test!" said a bright adult voice from behind. Light jumped around and let out a sigh of relief at seeing Ms. Halliburn. He was losing his touch. Usually he was able to tell when someone had managed to sneak behind him.

"What do you mean?' asked Cindy as she hurried back to her seat.

"We'll be starting on the discrimination that was braved through by gypsies in the past and continues through modern times! But first we'll be taking the test! Books and papers away, please, only a pencil and a pen on your desk!" she said, as she started to hand out a bunch of sheets. Light sighed and focused upon the subject matter at hand, rather than the ubiquitous topic of discrimination.

(X)

"So Ms. Halliburn, what are the teams?" asked Jason as the bell that signaled the end of lessons for the next week or so rung.

"Impatient, aren't you?" Ms. Halliburn said, looking amused. "Well, there are four teams this year. Matt, you're the leader of Team 1. Here's your task." She said, holding out a gold envelope. Matt shrugged and slouched his way up to the front to collect his envelope.

"Mello, you're in charge of team 2." She said, holding out a silver envelope. Mello collected it by simply leaning forward and plucking it out of her hand. He liked to sit at the front desk, for some weird reason.

"Near, Team 3 is your team." She said and Near shuffled to the front and delicately lifted the bronze envelope from her hand.

"Light, you've got command of Team 4." She said. Obviously. Light smirked and walked up to the front and took the black envelope from her hand and looked at the other three.

"Let's open it in unison." Light said and Near shrugged.

"One, two three." said Mello and Light slit open the black envelope.

"You gotta be joking me!" Matt yelled suddenly. "You're in my team, Linda!"

Linda pulled a face. "You're so annoying! Why are we stuck together?"

Light laughed lowly. He didn't have anybody on his team that he particularly disliked. Jason, Hobbit, Lawrence, Near's quiet Arabian roommate, Halim, Creos, Ochre and Naira. They weren't ranked very high, but he would be able to make up for that. He called out their names and they all flocked to his desk.

"So what are we doing?" asked Jason, as he adjusted his glasses.

"Let's go somewhere quieter, first." Light said, as he folded his envelope neatly around the cards with their instructions. "I know Mello's already moved off to claim the Library and Near will probably go to the Playroom. How about we head to the Gym before I reveal anything too sensitive as far as information goes?"

Everybody nodded and they walked down the stairs in an almost silence. Light pondered the teams. Matt had a fairly strong team. He and Linda combined with Timothy would be the main power players of Team 1. Mello and Cindy would most definitely be the ones to watch out for on Team 2, though Light wasn't about to underestimate Johnny either. Team 3… were the quiet ones. Near and Elpheba…both with eidetic memories. Light was not going to underestimate any of the other teams.

But Light also had no intention of letting his team know about his misgivings. The higher the morale amongst them, the better. Once they finally reached the gym, Light perched upon one of the dummies and everyone else spread out into a neat circle. "Are the cameras off?" asked Light and Ochre sprung up to check.

"They're switched off!" she said and Light nodded as he unfolded the envelope.

"I won't paraphrase these, the exact wording might be useful." He said and everyone nodded and turned to listen.

_Congratulations to Team 4. Your team is filled with those who are subtle in their courses of action, and this is a trait that will be strongly necessary for what you will be attempting to achieve. It is around this time of year that things truly open up for everybody, in amongst the hustle and bustle around London and this will give you an edge._

_Your mission for this week is to find an important file filled with some of the most sensitive information about the plans of MI5 for the internal affairs of the UK. This file was lost by civil servant Thomas Jones while he was on the London Underground. There are many inside MI5 who wish that this file will disappear altogether and that the plans will be abolished. It is not only your responsibility to find the file but to see if it was stolen by somebody inside MI5._

_You will be allowed inside the building and you will be allowed to interrogate people there. No one who works for MI5 should be able to deny your investigation. However, the other teams may sabotage your investigation, so you as a team should be prepared for that and to do some sabotaging of your own. _

_Inside this envelope is all of the identification that you will need. Many of the important gaps have been left free so that you can create your own identities. This will make it easier for you to remember them. _

_I wish you the best of luck, L._

Light finally stopped reading and looked up. His team all looked pretty shell-shocked. "We're going to try and catch a mole from inside of MI5?" asked Jason after a moment's pause.

"And recover the file." reminded Light. "That's the main priority."

"We're doomed." said Naira, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

"Don't be ridiculous." Light said, "This is nothing. We've already been given everything we need to complete this task. This…is actually fairly simple."

"But," said Halim, his voice soft, "If we need to interrogate anyone outside MI5, we'll have a tough time. We're only children."

Light hesitated. Could he say this much? He'd be fine. No specifics and he'd be fine. "It's not as difficult as you'd think. I passed off as an eighteen year old a few months ago and no one questioned it."

"So what's the plan, Light?" asked Lawrence as he ran a hand through his curly hair.

Light frowned. Hmmm, this was difficult. He hated being placed on the spot for complex ideas. He could easily improvise urgent plans that only needed to have two or three steps to them, but an entire plan in less than a minute?

"I think we should split into two groups. There are eight of us, so two groups of four. Lawrence, Ochre, Naira and I will be one team. Jason; you, Halim, Creos and Hobbit are the other team. My team will work on the actual mission of getting the file back and dealing with MI5. Jason, your team should work on figuring out what the other teams are doing, by any means possible. What are the items that everyone brought with them?" Light commanded as he started to pace.

"I brought my make-up kit." said Ochre, smiling. Jason snorted and Ochre glared at him. "Hey, it'll be useful! It's stage makeup, with latex skin and the fake blood and other stuff. It'll be convenient for disguising ourselves!"

"Ochre's right; that will come in handy. Anybody else?" asked Light, leaning back against the cupboard.

"I nominated my item as some rope. Like a tonne of different sizes all bound together. I mean, you never know when rope is going to be useful, right?" said Jason.

Light nodded. "What else?"

Halim placed his hand up, sheepishly. "I took along my lockpick set. I don't think it'll be very useful, though, not with the task that we got."

Light nodded. "Doesn't matter. Anything can be useful when applied correctly. Now anybody else?"

Everybody shook their heads. Light nodded. "Very well. I bought a satellite powered technology. It's only very recently been put on the market for commercial use, but I managed to wrangle with a few people to get it early. It's got a few glitches, but in general, it works quite well. It's called the Global Navigation System. You've probably heard of it, but it's only ever been used for military purposes around America. It uses satellites to tell you weather conditions, but more importantly, it can help you know exactly where in the world you are. I also coded a programme that should help plan a reliable route to get to unknown places. It only works in and around the UK, but I doubt we'll be leaving the island."

The other children blinked at him. Light merely leant back and smirked. There were a few moments of shocked silence before Jason sputtered slightly.

"How….how did you get the money to buy something like that?" he gasped.

Light smirked even further. "You'd be surprised what you can buy with almost two hundred thousand pounds and a lot of contacts." Contacts that he'd stolen from L. Still, the money had been all his own.

The students looked even more stricken. "How rich were your parents when they died?" asked Ochre, looking vaguely horrified.

"I only had 6 million yen to start with. It took two weeks playing the stock market to get that much money. Near and I split the money down in half since we both played the stocks. We would have had more, but I gambled on a stupid investment and that flushed around 50,000 pounds down the drain." said Light, feeling a little annoyed.

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Hobbit for the first time since they'd finished the History lesson. "You made almost four hundred thousand pounds from around…12,000 pounds in two weeks?"

Light shrugged. "I think we got ten times more money than we were really supposed to because I used L's name quite frequently. I think a lot of the companies I invested with were pretty corrupt and didn't want any investigation. Still, the money is fairly mine now. I spent around half of it on the GPS, but issues about money shouldn't be too problematic, unless you want me to buy out MI5. That's not happening."

There was a little bit of hysterical laughter from Jason and the rest of the group laughed at him, The atmosphere relaxed quite a bit and Light smiled charismatically. "Don't worry, we're sure to win!"

(X)

"Are you sure about this, Light?" asked Lawrence as he adjusted his fake glasses.

"Just trust me and don't speak too much." said Light, as he adjusted his clothes. Luckily, amongst the clothes that they were allowed to wear, there had been suits and ties, which had helped in this particular deception.

"Excuse me!" Lawrence exclaimed, looking annoyed.

Light gave him a sharp look in response. "Lawrence, you're nine. You haven't been through puberty yet. You sound like you're a girl. I'm twelve. I sound normal. So don't talk too much, got it? We're already going to have a difficult time pulling off that we're young adults fresh out of college, whom are investigating for L. Don't screw it up even further."

Lawrence scowled a little before he schooled his face into a bored mask. Light fixed a cold smirk on his face, adjusted his wig a little and walked towards the MI5 building.

The lady at the receptionist desk smiled at him patronizingly. "Children aren't allowed inside, I'm very sorry."

"I'm no child, I assure you." Light said, coldly, making his voice icy. He pulled out the papers that had been so helpfully given to him by L. He still used Hubert Clatthieu, simply because it would be easier to remember. "My assistant and I are here to find the papers of MI5, because someone very incompetent lost them."

The receptionist's eyes widened. "I see…Excuse me, I need to make a call." Light stepped back and smiled cruelly.

"You're so creepy at the moment." whispered Lawrence to Light. "Can you stop smiling like that?"

"No." Light said, lowering his voice. "I need to be intimidating, or else they'll never tell me anything. We're doing the good-cop, bad-cop routine, remember? You're the nice one, if you need to talk. I doubt you will though."

The receptionist turned back towards them. "The Director will see you now."

Light nodded. That was hardly a surprise. Sir Stephen Lander was known to be pretty paranoid. It was only natural that he would wish to see them. He beckoned Lawrence and they strode towards the elevator.

"Lander? Isn't he supposed to be really new to office?" asked Lawrence as they got into the lift, his words nearly inaudible as his mouth wasn't moving.

"Sure, but it doesn't stop him being paranoid and powerful." Light said as the door pinged open and they walked towards the office at the end of the corridor.

They walked into the door with his name on it and greeted the short, rather portly man as he stood up. "Hubert Clatthieu, is it?" he asked.

"That's right, Mr. Lander." Light said, smirking as he took a seat. There was only one chair however, which left Lawrence standing. Never mind.

"Yes, well, who are you really? You don't exist. All I have are two tickets leaving France and entering France again." said Lander and Light smirked.

"You ran a scan about my entire existence in the time that it took to board a lift? Impressive. Everybody says that MI5 are slacking off, but really, that was something." Light said, as he ran a hand through his hair. "As for who I really am, I assure you, I am Hubert Clatthieu. If you cannot find me in your database, it means that I have succeeded in my task."

"What task?" asked Lander, looking confused.

"I am L's ghost. I do his dirty work. The tasks that he cannot or will not do, I complete for him. That is my sole purpose." Light said, smirking. "He has entrusted this particular task to me because it is beneath him."

"Does L not believe this is worth his time?" Lander said, looking furious.

"No. It's only a missing file, and while the file is very important to national security, I believe that it is not entertaining enough for him. No deaths, no interesting circumstances, no fun for him."

"So he is not taking this case seriously?" Lander asked, his voice almost deadly.

Light smiled reassuringly. "That, I did not say. L takes one million American dollars very seriously. That is why he has sent me and not completely neglected the case."

"So L does care about money after all. So he is human." said Lander, sitting down, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Did you believe that he wasn't? That L was a computer or a robot? L is very much human. And money is very important, after all." Light said, leaning back in his chair.

"You are very young, from your appearance. How do I know that you are qualified for this task?" asked Lander, frowning.

"L sent me in his stead to complete a task that will get him one million American dollars. Is that not enough qualification for you?" asked Light.

Lander smirked. "Well then, you know exactly what you need to do, don't you? MI5 will be open to your requests. But if you traverse outside of here, your jurisdiction and your words will have no power."

"Sir Lander, I am well aware of that. Now, my assistant and I have a lot of work to do. If you'll excuse us." Light said, rising and holding a hand out for Lander to shake. Lander took it, but it felt more like Lander was trying to break his bones.

Light smiled, beckoned towards Lawrence and both of them left the room, confidently.

(X)

"So, the guy who lost the file was Thomas Jones?" asked Lawrence, without moving his mouth, as they walked around the second floor, looking for his office.

"Yes, that's correct." Light said, hiding his mouth's motion in his jacket as he rummaged through his pocket for something. Cameras were everywhere, after all. "Any messages from the other half of our group about their progress?"

Lawrence shook his head. "Nothing so far. But it's only 10:00am. They've got plenty of time yet. I bet some of them haven't even woken up yet."

"We have too woken up. Dunno about the others though." said Naira, through the earpatch he'd just placed in. "I think we managed to hack most of the MI5 cameras, so we can see what you're doing. You don't look like you're even talking, which is very good. I can't maintain my control over the cameras for long though, so tell me when you actually need us to do it, so we can conserve power."

"Got it. Lawrence said, "You should turn it off now, I doubt we need it to talk with Thomas Jones."

"Though, if you can figure out WHERE Thomas Jones is, I'd be much obliged." Light said. "I am fed up of walking in circles."

"Two rooms to your right." said Ochre. "I'm switching in now. Naira's taking a break, so you'll be talking with me. Please preface any requests with my name."

"Much obliged. And I will be sure to." Light said, before striding towards the room. Sure enough, the sign said 'Thomas Jones' on the small plaque. Light knocked on it briskly.

"Come in." trilled his voice. Lawrence shot Light a look of incredulity and Light merely shrugged as he schooled his face to the cold disdain that he had become so accustomed to over the course of that day.

"You are…Thomas Jones?" said Light, as he swept into the room. He spotted the man behind a large pile of paperwork. The first thing that popped into Light's mind was how similar that this man was to Matsuda. Not in appearance, but in the demeanour and the impression of bemused incompetence.

"That's right. Who are you?" asked Thomas, as he stood up. Light was standing not four feet away from him and he could barely hear him. At least Near was confident in his quietness.

"Hubert Clatthieu. I'm here on the behalf of L, investigating the missing file that you lost. Since you lost it, I think its best that we hear from you, exactly what happened. Please do not miss out any details. Anything and everything could be important. Stanley, set up the audio recorder."

Stanley was their agreed name for Lawrence. So far, no one had been interested in Lawrence, which Light thought was a huge blunder on the part of MI5. He'd been expecting more from the best institute of spying in Europe. The wordless sidekicks were always more important than they looked. Didn't these people read popular fiction at all?

"T-t-tape recorder?" asked Jones. "Are…are you setting up for some kind of court case?"

"It's easier than taking notes or minutes of what you're saying." said Lawrence, quietly. "If I write for too long, my carpal tunnel syndrome starts acting up. Please, bear with us."

Light sighed but kept quiet. Lawrence was right to step in. The last thing they needed what to spook this already unstable man any further. Time for the good policeman to step in.

"Please Mr. Jones, tell us in your own words, exactly what happened two days ago." Light said, sternly, as he leant against the wall.

"Well, I think it was at around 7pm. I was on the Underground, trying to get back to Wembley for dinner and I was sort of in a hurry. I know that I had the file, which was in a blue folder that had the MI5 emblem on the front, when I boarded the Victoria Line, because I almost dropped it while trying to put my ticket in the machine. And then I boarded that train and I'm fairly certain that I didn't lose it there. I got out at Oxford Circus, because I had to switch to the Bakerloo line. I think I must have lost it there, because I was in even more of a rush, because the Victoria Train had been late. I just got onto the train, but I didn't have a seat, so I was standing. Then, I got a call on my phone form my girlfriend, and I put my bag down on the ground while I was talking to her."

Light shot him a look of annoyance and Jones quailed a little. "Please, continue, Mr. Jones." Lawrence urged.

"Ummm, yes. I-Where was I? I think... Oh right. I unboarded the train at 7:45pm and I took the bus home. I wasn't sitting next to anyone and the bus was practically deserted, apart from a couple of teenagers on the bus, so it wasn't lost then. I arrived at my house at 8:17pm. I checked through my stuff at 9:20pm and that was when I realized that the file was no longer there."

Lawrence nodded. "I see. Thank you. I think Hubert has some questions for you?"

"That's correct. Mr. Jones, what is your position in MI5?" asked Light.

"Umm. I'm a civil servant. I do paperwork for a lot of the agents and I often take minutes for some meetings between the department heads. Uhh. Do you need anything else?" Jones asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Yes. I do. Mr. Jones, do you often get entrusted with top-secret reports?" asked Light.

Jones shook his head, looking hesitant. "Uhh…not really, no. Usually, they stay at work. We're not usually allowed to take them away from the office, but I was a little late with my report about one of the meetings about the stuff written in the report, so I was given permission to take it home with me so I could finish it."

"And then you lost it." said Light flatly. Jones cringed.

"Well…yes. I guess so." He said, looking pathetic.

Light sighed. Too hard. "Mr. Jones, would you say that anybody particularly dislikes you? At home, at your workplace?"

"What do you mean, Mr. Clatthieu?" asked Jones, looking confused.

"I'm asking whether you have any enemies. Anybody out to make your life more difficult." Light said, leaning forward. "If I'm honest, I find it hard to believe that someone who was entrusted with these top-secret documents for the first time would carelessly lose them." He really didn't, though. This man looked like he would be capable of losing anything. Still, he had to investigate all areas of possibility.

Jones shook his head. "No. I…I don't think so anyway. I don't really actively make enemies! I never meant to!"

Light had to struggle to keep the annoyed expression off his face. This person was really quite annoying. "Right. On the Bakerloo line, was there anyone near you whom you recognized?"

Jones bit his lip. "Not anyone I noticed. But a lot of coworkers use the Bakerloo line to get them to Amersham and they take a line from there to Reading or Windsor. It's possible that some people were there, but I wasn't in a state where I would have noticed them."

Light frowned. "Have you noticed any colleagues or coworkers on the Bakerloo line on previous journeys home?"

Jones shook his head. "Not really. But usually, I don't even look around at my surroundings on my way home."

Light actively gritted his teeth. His man was really useless. Still, Light had managed to deduce a few things from the man. "One last question. Mr. Jones, have you been punished for your misdemeanour or not?"

Jones nodded, looking away. "I've been docked three months pay and I've been demoted. I don't take minutes of any meeting anymore and I'm stuck with paperwork. I was threatened with being fired, but it hasn't happened yet."

Light nodded. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Jones. That's all of my questions for now. Thank you for your cooperation. We may ask some more questions alter as we discover more things, but for now, we're finished. You can get back to your work."

Jones looked relieved as Lawrence dismantled the tape recorder. They both walked out of the room without another word. Lawrence looked like he was about to say something but Light looked pointedly at the camera in the corner and Lawrence nodded. They took the lift downstairs and Light walked out of the door, until they were at a nearby café.

The waiter came up to them "What would you like, sir?" he asked.

"One cup of decaf coffee and a salad. What about you, Stanley?" asked Light.

"Umm, some orange juice and a tuna sandwich." said Lawrence, looking a little put-upon the spot. The waiter disappeared and Light leant back.

"Okay, now we're finally out of the camera shot, what do you think?" asked Light.

"What I think? I guess…I don't think Jones lost the file on purpose. He seemed too ashamed of it. Also… I don't think the file was lost either. I think it was stolen. But I have no other leads." said Lawrence, pulling a face.

Light nodded. "Yep, what I was thinking. I think that Jones was framed to take the fall, but not from any real malice. His punishment is tiny compared to what he has wrought. Therefore, it's not some enemy trying to discredit him and send him into shame. It's more likely someone higher in the hierarchy than him trying to pin this carefully planned act upon Jones's shoulders because it's most likely that Jones would lose it. If I hadn't interviewed him, I would have said that he'd just lost the file from carelessness. He's got the perfect scapegoat personality."

"Why someone higher up than Jones?" asked Lawrence. "Could have easily been someone lower than him."

"Not possible. It needs to have been someone higher up. Who else would have had the authority to override the 'you can't bring confidential documents home' rule? It's a perfectly reasonable rule. Why would they let him take the documents home? A normal supervisor would have told him that he should have worked faster and let him take the fall for it or told him to work overtime to get it done. No…this was planned. But…by who?" asked Light.

Lawrence looked at him and laughed weakly. "I can see why you're first, mate. I can't even comprehend stuff that fast."

Light was about to reply when the waiter came back with their food. Light smiled gratefully and forked over the money. When the man was gone, Light opened his lunch. "Okay, Ochre, you there?"

"I'm here. She said. "What d'ya need?"

"Hack into the MI5 database. Find out which of the employees live in the Reading/Windsor area. Or if any live in Wembley where Jones does. Heck, any location that would mean that they would board the same Bakerloo line as Jones. Eliminate the lower level ones, but keep them on a separate list. If we don't have any fits, we'll have to surmise that the superior officer used some employee, but that means a lot more work for us."

"Yes boss. Time limit?" she asked.

"By the time we finished eating? Half an hour, I give you." Light said, as he sipped his coffee.

"You cut a rough deal, mate. Give me an hour, and I'll have it all sorted." Ochre said and Light could hear tapping on the other side of the speaker.

"Fine. Be sure that it is only an hour and not any longer." Light said. "Now then, I think depending on the results of t—"

Light cut off abruptly as his phone started going off.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey Light, it's Jason. We made some significant progress, so I thought we'd contact you." Jason said, and Light grinned.

"Some good news. Finally. The line's secure?" Light asked.

"Of course. I'm not risking anything. I want to win as much as you do, Light." Jason said, over the line.

Light smirked. "What are the other groups doing then?"

"Matt's unhackable and they haven't budged one inch from the Library. Not even trying to spy on them, because they'll hack us out. Near's group are AWOL. Have no idea where they are. Woke up usual time and they just weren't at the orphanage. Mello's however, was easy to follow. All nine of their members went to Wales. We're currently spying on them from about 10 miles away. Ochre's makeup kit is actually coming in real handy. They've been visiting a bunch of burnt down houses and talking to police. It seems that L just foisted off a bunch of his cases to us. I guessed arson cases." Jason explained.

Light nodded. "Makes sense. What's the progress?"

"Halim managed to steal their files of all of their notes from them. I don't even know how. We're currently in the process of memorizing them and systematically burning them. How I love irony." Jason said and Light did not imagine the grin in his voice.

Light laughed. "That's awful and brilliant at the same time. Of course, Cindy's probably already memorized them, but it will piss off Mello, nonetheless. Haha, classic. If you do that a few more times, Mello's group are bound to screw up. Try and work on finding Near's group. Matt's group will take some more drastic measures, and I'd prefer to leave those tactics until later." Light said, as his mind spiraled away into the realm of possibility.

"They've completely vanished Light, that's not as easy as you make it out to be." Jason said, his voice visibly annoyed.

"I'm not asking for miracles. We're all working as hard as you. I'm just asking that you try. If Near's case is particularly difficult, we can try and recruit him and team up."

"What, then betray him at the end?" Jason asked, sounding a little shocked.

"Yeah. But we'd only do that if we needed to. Near knows that I can easily lie and he even suggested it as an alternative in a different game we played." Light said. "Actually, teaming up with Mello's team sounds more likely. Especially if we play our cards right. Cindy doesn't like me, but she likes you a lot, Jason. If you can exploit that, we could team up with Mello. It would be easier to betray him."

"I can't believe you can just suggest that so heartlessly." Jason, said, sounding a little disturbed.

Light snorted. "It's not like Near and Mello wouldn't backstab me in kind in a heartbeat, if it would mean that they would win. It's what makes the game more fun. In the end, the only person you can ever trust is yourself."

There was an audible shudder on the other end of the phone. "You know what Light? The more I hear about what it's like at the top of Wammy's House hierarchy, the less I want to be there. Sixth place is just fine with me." Jason said.

Light shrugged. "That's your problem. I just want to be sure that you really do want to win and that you're willing to see through every action."

"I do still want to be friends with Cindy after this." Jason said, "But I'll see. If it's in a way that won't overtly hurt her, then yes. I'll play along."

Light shrugged. "Keep me posted. Especially on the Near front. Ask Halim if he has any idea where Near might head. They are roommates. Near might have disclosed something last night by accident."

"Fine." Jason said, "See you."

Light flipped the phone shut and turned back to Lawrence who looked slightly overwhelmed. "You wanted to team up with one of the other teams then backstab them without warning?"

"It's called the key to winning." Light said, as he finished his salad. "Backstab implies that there is no warning. There aren't many people who'd willing let you stab them. And if they do, they're rather insane."

Lawrence shook his head. "Heh. I really hope you won't backstab us, Light."

Light smirked. "I would be a pretty bad leader if I left my own team members out to rot. It's a group victory for this round. The moment that we're back to singular rounds, it's every man or woman for themselves."

Lawrence nodded nervously. "Come on Lawrence. Let's head back to MI5. See if we can uncover anything by listening to idle gossip. Or… whether you can uncover anything. Most people are too scared of me to properly disclose anything in my presence." Light said, as he straightened.

Lawrence nodded wordlessly.

**AN: Three parter, remember? So I've officially decided that I'm an idiot for even making this storyline. My OCs were never meant to be developed. They were meant to hide in the background of the story and be there for Light to talk with for small scenes here and there. **

**Then my brain decided, late at night, that I should make a storyline where Light's competing against his main acquaintances and be stuck in a team of people he doesn't know, to try and win against the main group. Yeah. **

**Okay, I'm a Matt/Mello fan and their romance (or any romance in general) will not be showing up in this story, because I wanted to stay true to Death Note's original idea where romance was there but it was never the main focus of the story. So I wanted to compensate. Here's a mini angst-filled story for Matt/Mello fans. The premise is that all humans go to Mu after they die and most of them forget everything. Most.**

The boy is perplexed. He's been contemplating this whole 'dead' thing over in his head. He's not even sure what dead means, other than the fact that it is bad and that most people are upset by it. The boy can't really bring himself to care. Whatever death is, it's over and done with now.

Most people in this realm are 'dead' too. Not that they're taking it too well, to be honest. The boy met someone else, someone with dark hair, similar to their surroundings and sad eyes (what's sad anyway?) who told him about where they were. Mu. It's a bleak name. He also said that everybody gets chances to ascend onto the next world, where they'll be born again (the man said this like it was something to be happy about).

But…for some reason, the boy doesn't want to move on. He ponders over it and realizes that he's waiting for someone. He's trying to find someone. Someone…important. Someone who made his sides hurt. He's not quite sure why that's a good thing, but he feels nothing but euphoria at the thought of finding that person again.

Nobody that exists in this world sits still. They roam forever to try and find the white-clad people that will help them live again and gain memories again. That is their only purpose and their only thought in their heads, except the empty echoes of a dead world.

The boy is not one of those people. He roams with a true purpose. He will find that other person. He can't remember who this other person was, except that they were important to him. Nevertheless, the boy shall find that person. He's never been more determined in his death.

(X)

_The boy is bored. It's one thing being stuck in a dark, dry world for all eternity, but it's another thing of being bored while tolerating this existence. He can't say living, because they technically aren't alive. It's dull and there's nothing to outwit the boredom._

_He has a vague idea that he once had plenty of things that staved away boredom, but that's ridiculous. There is nothing and there always will be; nothing. _

_Except…. He's fortunate. He remembers something beyond his 'death', contrary to so many others. He remembers that there was once someone who was _always_ able to relieve his boredom. Someone bright and furious and was the very opposite of the boy in many ways. Furious is supposedly something bad, but the boy can remember it with nothing but fondness. _

_The boy ponders for a minute whether that person still exists in a place where the boy can find him, but the boy soon shakes it off. Someone so bright and so …alive; they wouldn't die. They wouldn't be stuck in this dark, boring, cold, impassionate world. No, people like him, who were bored easily were trapped here. _

_This was his eternity. He just had to accept it._

(X)

The boy is irritated. He'd been walking for what feels like an eternity, but he's found no one as of yet. Not many people are helpful either, the silence in this world is oppressive and most people conform to the standard. Sometimes the boy feels like screaming and shouting and making a large fuss, just to see how they would react.

He feels vaguely that this is something that he would have done when he was alive too, and is glad of the thought. He's also proud of what little he can remember, because it is more than most people.

The boy thinks that he must have been better than other individuals when he was alive, because he feels nothing but scorn towards others, especially those who rush towards the loss of their existence. The boy revels in the challenge of trying to find his memories again and the challenge of trying to find that other person.

In his musings, he's managed to determine that his name once began with an M. He's not sure what an M is, but it sounds important. An L also seemed to be a prominent thought through his brain. The boy whose name began with an M wonders whether L is the person he is looking for. L stands for lover he's discovered and the boy who was once called an M wonders.

(X)

_The boy is tired. He can't even tell how long it's been since he last saw somebody, but it's been a long time. He vaguely remembers that there was a more efficient way of telling time 'before', but there are no indicators of the passing of time in this desolate realm._

_He's been walking to relieve his boredom, but that action hasn't been working. All it has done is drain him even further and make him feel even more like the masses around him; searching for a salvation that will never come. The phrase sounds familiar and the boy isn't quite certain why. _

_Maybe the bright person said it? No…it sounded like his own thoughts. He must have told the bright boy this. Maybe. The boy isn't quite sure. _

_He dislikes not being sure. He thinks that he used to be sure. Was the word confident? It certainly sounds like something that he associated himself with… but it's not quite right. The word drifts to the top of his mind. _

_Patient. He had been patient. He isn't sure what patient really means but there is a feeling of calm and of boredom at the same time that floats alongside the word. _

_It sums up his current situation too well. _

_The boy who was patient dislikes the fact that his life was the same as his death currently is. He feels somewhat irritated. Did…did anybody remember him in the world of the living? He wondered whether he'd made an impact on somebody._

_Most of all, the boy who was patient hoped that he'd made an impact in the heart of the bright person. The furiously bright person had made such an impact upon him that the boy who was patient could remember that bright one's personality in the midst of death. He wondered whether the bright one in the living world still remembered the boy. Missed him, even._

(X)

The boy whose name had once begun with an M, was making his way through the desolate world in exasperation. He'd met 378 people and a half, if you counted the baby (which the boy had not). He'd been rather surprised by the meeting of a baby. Usually, the luminescent people took away the babies for a new life immediately because they had no memories of anything.

Still, amongst these three hundred people, none of them had been the person he was looking for. The boy whose name had once begun with M didn't remember anything about the other person. All that he knew was that he'd know the person when he saw him. Still….the boy remembered a demographic from the previous world. There had been 7 billion people living on the planet. The boy whose name had once been M hadn't even scratched the surface of that number. And more people had to have died in the past.

Not counting the relives, there were bound to be more people who had died in the past as well. If he compared the numbers to an ocean…the boy had barely even met a drop of that ocean.

A part of him was curious about the numbers and the statistics and the data that he could collect from this entire project and for some reason, the image of a sunlight-filled library flooded his mind. But the other, more practical part of him despaired. How would he ever find that other person from the deluge of people here in this realm?

(X)

_The boy who had once been patient wasn't feeling very patient anymore. A group of people had come past where he'd been pacing. They were silent, but they were walking with a purpose. The boy who had once been patient knew who they were. They were the Salvation seekers, those who actively searched to be taken to the new world. _

_A part of the boy still felt that he deserved to be in this barren world, but the part of him that was bored of counting the sand particles and trudging through hazy memories to try and find the identity of the bright person was tired. The bright person was most certainly alive. He had to be. _

_To find the bright person again, the boy who had once been called confident needed to live again. The boy had to follow these dreary, drudgy people. Besides, in the past, he vaguely remembered that people were interesting in large groups. Maybe something would change about his existence if he followed them?_

(X)

The boy who had once been called M was weary. He'd been wandered and wandering and roaming everywhere. He was so very tired. Dead people didn't need to eat or drink, which was good, since there was nothing to eat or drink, in any case. It was the realm of nothing and the boy was really starting to feel that now.

Was there even any point in trying to find the other boy? Who knew, he could have already moved on to the new world….

The boy couldn't think like that, he just couldn't! Wouldn't…wouldn't he have felt it if that person, that amazing person who'd made his sides hurt…was gone? Wouldn't he know?

The boy couldn't give up hope. Not yet. Not ever, if he could help it. He would find that person again. He just knew it. He wasn't going to ascend either, no matter how many times _they_ told him to.

He knew that the luminescent people wanted him to ascend. He wasn't sure why, but everyone seemed to want him to move and ascend, so there must have been some sort of reason. But it didn't matter. The boy who had once been called M wouldn't ascend until he found the other person or the other person ascended. He wouldn't. He…couldn't.

(X)

_The boy who had been patient once upon a time was perhaps more jaded than ever. These people, if it was even possible, had made his existence even more dull. They didn't do anything other than walk or groan. It was perhaps the most dull time that that the boy who'd once been patient (a VERY long time ago) had ever experienced. They didn't ever talk at all. Ever. _

_The boy wasn't quite sure why. He remembered talking with a happiness and ease. Not just to the bright one. He remembered something about colour or paint and someone who was…clean? He enjoyed talking to them, as well. But nobody wanted to talk here and whenever he tried to strike up a conversation, they ignored him or hit him. He wasn't sure which was worse. _

_It struck him quite frankly, that he missed being alive. At least there, it was possible to see things in the background other than black. He missed being able to talk and he missed enjoying what he did. He was pretty sure that he could recreate two of those three things here in this realm, if people would stop moping long enough, but that seemed unlikely to change._

_He could leave, but he was too lazy. After all, safety in numbers...Where did that saying come from? He vaguely remembers the bright person saying it before laughing, dryly. He wants to know everything about the bright person, but it's too late for that. _

_The boy who had once been patient just wanted to feel alive again. When he was alive again, the bright one would be waiting for him. He just knew it. He had to be. The bright one was life itself. It was unfathomable that the bright one could have died. _

(X)

The boy who had once been called something was in despair. There was no way he was going to find that other person. Not a single chance in the world. He'd met 47,896 people so far and not a single one of them had been that other person. The boy was starting to think that there was nothing he could do to find the other person. That he should just give up and live again.

Though, the boy who had been called something-or-the-other didn't know what life could be without that person. How did you even start trying to live again without the person that had made him smile? How could you even face that future?

The boy who'd frankly stopped caring about what he was called, fell down onto what he assumed was the floor. Did he deserve this? Was this his punishment (though why he needed punishment in the first place, he couldn't remember)? That he would never be able to find that one person who'd made him…happy?

If that was so, he would accept it, for he had no more hope, no more strength to keep him going. He was lost. If it was forever…so be it.

(X)

_The boy who thinks that patient is really the wrong adjective at this point, stopped a little at the white light in front of their group. The luminescent people have descended in front of their group. It is the first time that the people have really talked._

_They jabber and shout at the white things but the boy feels strangely apathetic in front of his so-called saviours. They don't feel as important as they should. The people in the group are organized into a line and because of all the jostling, the boy is shoved to the back. It suits him well, he's in no hurry. The bright one will never die, so the boy has no fear of that and no rush to reach the living world._

_He looks around, feeling duller than ever. To his surprise, in his distance, there's a lump of yellow. The boy pays it no mind, that's pretty frequent nowadays. But…. The boy wonders. Most lumps move. This one is still. No human is ever still in the realm of the dead. The boy frowns. Maybe it isn't human after all. _

_He throws a quick glance towards the group. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own joy; they won't notice one less person. Quietly, the boy slips away and goes closer to the yellow thing in the distance. _

_It takes him a while, but the brightness of the white things doesn't decrease in the distance. The boy briefly wonders if the white things are the same type of thing as the bright one, but quickly shakes away the idea. They are too passive, too calm to be the person that he was waiting to find. _

_He finally draws close to the yellow lump. It's a person, he sees now. It has abnormally long blonde hair and wears completely black clothing. He would blend in if it weren't for the hair. The person is slumped over, face to the ground. The boy can't tell whether it is a man or a woman._

"_Hey," the boy says, using his long forgotten voice, "Are you alright?"_

_The person turns around and the boy freezes in sudden recognition._

(X)

The boy who has lost all hope looks up as he hears a voice and freezes in shock. The person in front of him…well, he said that he'd knew him when he saw him and there is no mistaking the identity of him. A name floats up inside his memory which fits the person in front of him so very well.

"Matt."

(X)

_The boy who was apparently called Matt looked down at the bright one and he could feel the tears coming to his eyes. He'd been so hopeless…. For so long….And now…the bright one was right here…._

"_Mello." He said, the name coming so easily now that they were in front of each other. _

(X)

Mello…yes, that was his name. He remembers now. How could he have forgotten? He must have been a bit of an idiot. He pulls himself to his feet and gazes back up at Matt. His memories come back to him in a flood, just looking at Matt and Mello can't stand it anymore, as the image of Matt's death fills his head. He pulls Matt into a tight hug.

"I'm so, so sorry. I never meant for you to die. You were supposed to escape and I was supposed to die for Near's enlightenment." Mello murmured into Matt's ear.

To his surprise, Matt punched him in the stomach. Hard. "Ow…." Mello said, as he crumpled inwards.

"You weren't supposed to die! You were so bright! Do you know, the only thing I remembered about you while I was here, was that you were so bright and so furious that nothing could possibly kill you?" yelled Matt, as he pulled Mello back into a tight hug. Mello could feel wet tears upon his back and it was the first liquid that Mello had seen since entering the realm of the dead.

Suddenly, Mello could subconsciously feel a bright light behind them. They both swiveled round in unison. There, stood a bright, luminescent person who could only be called an angel, from Mello's terminology and knowledge of the catholic faith.

"You have been chosen to ascend to a new life. Is this your wish?" asked the angel, her voice trilling and filled with the sound of bells. Mello hesitated. On one hand, this world was truly rotten. But….on the other….

"I don't think so." Mello said, "You see, I'd forget everything if I went back to life. And, I quite like my memories. It was bad enough not having them when I first came here."

"And you?" asked the angel as she turned to Matt. Matt just wordlessly shook his head. The angel nodded once again.

"Then you have chosen to stay here? Both of you?" She sounds almost disappointed.

Matt smiled. "There are plenty of people who wish to forget and to live again in this world. Find them."

The angel smiled and disappeared. Mello laughed. "How did you find me anyway? I was slumped out here in the middle of nowhere."

"Your hair. I guess that was one good thing about your obsession over your hair. It was so perfectly golden that I could see it from so far away." teased Matt, ruffling Mello's hair.

Mello caught Matt's hand in his. "Gods, I've missed you so much."

Matt stared at him and smiled. "It's been boring without you."

Mello laughed and kissed him gently. They had eternity to worry about things. For now, the boy called Mello leant into the kiss and forgot about his worries.

**AN: Thanks for reading this far, folks! Next time I'll actually have a funny omake, rather than a random short story. Remember, go see the full picture of the cover, review if you like something and tell me if you don't like something. Also, I have a poll on my profile that I'm curious to know the answer to! :) **


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